Juxtapoz Art & Culture Magazine - May 20 - Unknown

ART + CULTURE + DESIGN ALEXIS ROSS CATCHING UP WITH THE VP OF THE GENTS OF DESIRE

NICK CAVE

SOUNDSUITS IN BOSTON

CHRIS JOHANSON MIKE KELLEY JUX PROJECTS AN HONEST RETURN HOME

AT MOCA LA

& CONVERSE IN AUSTIN

MAY 2014, n160

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JUXTAPOZ

ISSUE #160 / MAY, 2014

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CONTRIBUTOR / JOE BROOK

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INTRODUCTION

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THE REPORT / MIKE KELLEY

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EVENT / SIGHT & SOUND

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PICTURE BOOK / THOMAS PRIOR

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DESIGN / JAVAS LEHN STUDIO

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FASHION / ONLY NEW YORK

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INFLUENCES / BRENDAN MONROE

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CHRIS JOHANSON

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NICK CAVE

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WINNIE TRUONG

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ALEXIS ROSS

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RYAN DE LA HOZ

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WINSTON SMITH

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SOUTHWEST INSIDER

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BOOK REVIEWS

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PROFILE / ANTHONY FRIEDKIN

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PRODUCT REVIEWS

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SIEBEN ON LIFE

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POP LIFE

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PERSPECTIVE

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JUXTAPOZ ISSN #1077-8411 MAY 2014 VOLUME 21, NUMBER 5 Published monthly by High Speed Productions, Inc., 1303 Underwood Ave, San Francisco, CA 94124–3308. © 2014 High Speed Productions, Inc. All rights reserved. Printed in USA. Juxtapoz is a registered trademark of High Speed Productions, Inc. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission is prohibited. Opinions expressed in articles are those of the author. All rights reserved on entire contents. Advertising inquiries should be directed to: [email protected]. Subscriptions: US, $34.99 (one year, 12 issues) or $75.00 (12 issues, first class, US only); Canada, $75.00; Foreign, $80.00 per year. Single copy: US, $5.99; Canada, $6.99. Subscription rates given represent standard rate and should not be confused with special subscription offers advertised in the magazine. Periodicals Postage Paid at San Francisco, CA, and at additional mailing offices. Canada Post Publications Mail Agreement No. 0960055. Change of address: Allow six weeks advance notice and send old address label along with your new address. Postmaster: Send change of address to: Juxtapoz, PO Box 884570, San Francisco, CA 94188–4570. The publishers would like to thank everyone who has furnished information and materials for this issue. Unless otherwise noted, artists featured in Juxtapoz retain copyright to their work. Every effort has been made to reach copyright owners or their representatives. The publisher will be pleased to correct any mistakes or omissions in our next issue. Juxtapoz welcomes editorial submissions; however, return postage must accompany all unsolicited manuscripts, art, drawings, and photographic materials if they are to be returned. No responsibility can be assumed for unsolicited materials. All letters will be treated as unconditionally assigned for publication and copyright purposes and subject to Juxtapoz’ right to edit and comment editorially.

Cover by Alexis Ross Sherm Stick’n (detail) Acrylic on canvas

Cover by Andrew Schoultz Melt Down (detail) Photo by Alex Nicholson

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CONTRIBUTER

JOE BROOK ON WINSTON SMITH’S LASTING EFFECT ON PUNK CULTURE

WE REMEMBER THE PIVOTAL MOMENTS IN OUR LIVES, and in the mid 1980s, growing up in Michigan, punk rock and skateboarding changed the way I lived my life… Bad Brains, Minor Threat and Dead Kennedys were just a few of the bands that scorched my ears. My friend, Jason Wilson, introduced me to all of this, and even now, I still can't thank him enough. A score later, as corny as it sounds, I feel so lucky to find myself photographing skateboarding, music, and art heroes for a living. When Evan Pricco, editor of Juxtapoz, gave me the thumbs up to shoot Winston Smith, I jumped at the chance! Winston's studio is nestled in the heart of North Beach in San Francisco, tucked away in a small side alleyway. He greeted me with a handshake and a cold beer, telling me his studio used to be a speakeasy a long time ago, so naturally he wants to carry on the tradition.

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If you’re a fan of his collage work, you’d be blown away by his studio, a treasure trove of works in progress. Winston has insane stories of studying in Italy and meeting Dead Kennedys’ lead singer Jello Biafra in the early days. It was a real inspiration to spend the afternoon with Winston. As we were winding down our shoot, he invited me to lunch with a Juxtapoz favorite, the Mayor of North Beach, Mr. Jeremy Fish. As I was packing up, Winston said he was getting ready to hang out with Shepard Fairey and Bob Mould later that night. I guess that's how legends roll!

For more information about Joe Brook, visit joebrook.com JUXTAPOZ.COM / JOE - BROOK

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INTRODUCTION

ISSUE NO 160 “I DON'T GIVE A SHIT WHAT'S IN YOUR HEAD. By which I mean if it isn't on the page, it doesn't exist.” —Jeanette Winterson, British novelist and professor of creative writing at Manchester University. I love that this is the last thing I read before sitting down on a Friday afternoon to recap the making of May 2014. I was supposedly getting friendly advice about writing from a London Guardian article that asked various respected authors and teachers to give some insider guides to writing. Winterson just hit the nail on the head from the get-go. Given that this is a magazine about visual art, where seeing is believing and experiencing, where you can draw your own conclusions without reading a line, we hope that you savor each and every word. But this sentiment from Winterson leads to a topic we pondered while putting this issue together. In the next few pages, you are going to read about a creative who claims not to be an artist, Alexis Ross. If you haven’t heard the name, or are unaware of some of the work in which he is involved, it’s not because you haven’t been reading up on contemporary art. And if you do know him, clearly this interview is long, long overdue. In fact, if you do a Google search of “Alexis Ross,” you are going to be fittingly given limited options with which to find out more about him. This is by design, at least in theory. Remember, this is 2014, the era of “me.” The human race has spent about 4-8 million years evolving into the epoch where we can let our friends and followers know we are eating Japanese ramen right now. Alexis Ross, on the other hand, has built and worked on some of my absolute favorite projects in the art world over the past 20 years, and I barely had any evidence of my love for the man’s work. Again, this isn’t Ross’ doing, but one of the better examples I can think of where the art world goes beyond just what is seen on gallery walls, in installations, or out in public. There are integral pieces to the puzzle that deserve a little shine for doing the dirty work. I was lucky enough to watch the building of Art In the Streets at MOCA in 2011, given unlimited access on the basis that I wasn’t going to shoot a photo of every damn thing I saw, which was way harder than it sounds. I don’t know if Ross remembers, but I saw him working pretty hard throughout the building of Street Market. On opening night, Ross was relaxing in front of what ended up being a brilliant installation piece, one that had the monikers attached that represent pillars of our art community: REAS, TWIST, and ESPO. But Ross was the man that this trio called upon for guidance, assistance, expertise, brainpower, and direction

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to build Street Market. There was Ross, eschewing attention, in front of this beautiful structure, while the casual art fan walked by and enjoyed the experience of Street Market 2011. When contributing editor Austin McManus finished his piece on Ross this month, I knew the subject of attention was going to be broached early on. “I'm not particularly an artist,” Ross says. “I'm mostly a guy who sits on the porch smoking cigarettes in between long naps. I stretch my creative fingers perhaps four times a year.” Well, there’s bullshit there. Our job is to shed a light on the best of the best. This creative warrants a place in the history books and beyond the art world. He deserves the ink. Enjoy #160

ID photos by Alexis Ross 2009

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THE REPORT

MIKE KELLEY AT MOCA, LOS ANGELES THOUGHTS FROM A FRIEND

MIKE KELLEY WAS WHAT EVERY YOUNG ARTIST WANTS to be: The creative storm on the horizon who turns the cultural tide. He was not just a storm, but a punk rock tempest. Unfortunately, he is no longer with us, but his fine arts legacy still affects an entire generation. On March 31st, a large presentation of his work will be exhibited at the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) in Los Angeles, a venue where he has shown in the past. Mike Kelley is now almost a household name, even if most of us are not fully aware of his achievement. He is considered by some as the premiere contemporary master. First, let me express simply that Mike and a few friends, like Jim Shaw and Paul McCarthy, have penetrated the upper art bastions usually jealously guarded by the older

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art cognoscenti. Throughout making his slow invasion, Mike still maintained his rambunctious integrity. His own list of artistic endeavors covers almost every aspect of the creative spectrum: painting, sculpture, experimental music, cartoon graffiti, and performance and installation art, as well as classes of influential teaching. His work varied greatly with wild thrift store assemblages, painted props, worn-out stuffed animals, video tableaus and energetic performance tirades. This show at MOCA, which promises to be broad in scope, is worth investigating. Kelley’s ribald music efforts seemed to set the attitude for his performance art approach. His participation in an experimental “anti-rock” band called Destroy All Monsters joined him up with three other youthful iconoclasts, artists

left Pay For Your Pleasure Gift of Timothy P. and Suzette L. Flood, photo: Brian Forrest, courtesy The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles and Mike Kelley Foundation for the Arts 1988 top left Dancing the Quadrille (from the Reconstructed History Series) Eileen and Michael Cohen Collection, photo: courtesy Mike Kelley Foundation for the Arts 1989 top right Silver Ball The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, partial and promised gift of Blake Byrne, photo: Brian Forrest, courtesy The Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles and Mike Kelley Foundation for the Arts 1994

and friends Jim Shaw, Niagara and Cary Loran. This Detroit group functioned from 1973 to 1977 during which time all were living in Detroit. My association with him came about during the 1980s, and through his generous guidance, I was able to secure admission into a number of group art shows where I would otherwise not have had a chance of exhibiting. Kelley and his cohorts changed art as we know it and helped to distinguish Los Angeles as the new art capitol. Unfortunately, Mike had emotional issues that came along with his creativity. I can’t say that I was one of his best friends, but I knew him well enough to appreciate his eccentricities. He had appropriate social skills but could be very tightly wound. And with alcohol, he could become a lit firecracker inside a mason jar. In an art world that prides itself on political correctness, Mike could spit flames on sleeping napalm. I loved his gall.

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He was a true art storm trooper, one of the earliest artists to be featured in Juxtapoz. Nonetheless, both his enormous success, as well as domestic strife led to chronic depression. In 2012, MIke put an end to himself, only 57 and at the top of his game. We highly recommend this show at the MOCA in Los Angeles, March 31 through July 28, 2014, an important retrospective that travels here from the Stedelijk Museum in Amsterdam. –Robert Williams

For more information about Mike Kelley, visit mikekelley.com JUXTAPOZ.COM / MIKE - KELLEY

previous spread bottom left Catholic Birdhouse Private Collection, New York, photo: courtesy Mike Kelley Foundation for the Arts 1978 previous spread bottom right Estral Star #3 Collection Ringier AG, photo: courtesy Mike Kelley Foundation for the Arts 1989 From My Institution to Yours Collection Eric Decelle, Brussels, photo: courtesy Mike Kelley Foundation for the Arts 1987/2003

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EVENT

BRIXTON X JUXTAPOZ “SIGHT & SOUND” MUSIC SHOWCASE AT YELLOW JACKET SOCIAL CLUB, AUSTIN

THIS YEAR, DURING SXSW, Juxtapoz and sartorial outfitters Brixton got together to present a musical showcase at the Yellow Jacket Social Club. Combining music and art, and a special stage fashioned by Nat Russell, the event brought together creative energies during what has become America’s most celebrated entertainment conference. Sight & Sound saw the newly reformed Coachwhips closing out the first night preceded by fantastic sets from Together Pangea, The Meatbros, Fresh & Onlys, Obliterations, Dirty Fences, Dune Rats, Girl Tears, and Swim Team. The second night featured sets by Reigning Sound, Natural Child, Tijuana Panthers, Drowning Men, Team Spirit, Big Ups, Destruction Unit, Nikki Lane, and Trouble In The Wind.

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Juxtapoz sends sympathy and condolences to the victims and families of those who suffered as a result of the senseless tragedy in the early morning hours of March 13th, 2014. The show must go on, but not without a sense of perspective for what was lost.

For more information about the two day “Sight & Sound” showcase, visit juxtapoz.com/brixton-sight-and-sound or brixton.com JUXTAPOZ.COM / MUSIC

Obliterations Photo by Alex Nicholson

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PICTURE BOOK

THOMAS PRIOR RUNNING WITH SCISSORS HUMANS OFTEN HAVE AN INNATE DESIRE TO pursue adrenaline-charged highs in an attempt to temporarily supersede everyday living, and photographer Thomas Prior skillfully captures some of the more extreme methods people employ to achieve this. Does firing a machine gun downrange at an assortment of pyrotechnically-charged objects provide an endorphin rush, or just straight scare you? Probably both; fear can be an equally potent ingredient for reaching altered euphoric states. How about surfing a man-made river in the center of Munich, Germany or attending the largest and most chaotic fireworks festival in Mexico? Prior’s photographic projects regularly expose us awkward Earth people, our bizarre behaviors, as we conduct our inscrutable activities in natural landscapes. Currently residing in Brooklyn, Prior earned his BFA in photography from the School of Visual Arts and was included in PDN’s “30 Emerging Photographers to Watch” in 2010. Aside from his personal work, he also shoots for a number of publications including New York magazine, Vogue, ESPN, Popular Mechanics, Men’s Journal, Bloomberg Businessweek and more. —Austin McManus

For more information about Thomas Prior, visit thomasprior.com JUXTAPOZ.COM / PHOTOGRAPHY

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DESIGN

JAVAS LEHN STUDIO JUST THE RIGHT TYPE

MY FIRST ENCOUNTER WITH JAVAS LEHN STUDIO was through print. I had picked up the inaugural issue of Saturdays Surf NYC magazine, a beautiful, clean, well thought-out publication whose content was eclectically diverse, but blended together effortlessly. After meeting Javas at his downtown Manhattan office and seeing the range of his work, whether for Saturdays, MoMA, Cole Haan, or Mammoth Mountain, he shared how he has taken an aesthetic based on typography and space and turned it into his art. Evan Pricco: When someone, a client or another designer, asks you to describe your work, sight-unseen, how do you describe it? What is your design aesthetic in a sentence or two? Javas Lehn: I always try to articulate our work as reductive yet full of concept, structure and form. I have always been inspired

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by my grandfather’s interior design work—which always had a balance of classic and contemporary influences. What did your grandfather do? He was a designer? My grandfather, Allen Salsbury, was an interior designer in Seattle. A lot of people in Seattle called him the first minimalist there. He had a great showroom in Pioneer Square, which was an old saloon. It is now the Edward Curtis Gallery. It's a beautiful space. Do you remember your first influences in the design or creative arena? My earliest influences came from skateboard and snowboard culture. Early on, I was heavily influenced by the Powell Peralta & Bones Brigade movement. A friend of mine gave me a copy of the doc film Ban This when I was quite young, which I watched over and over. It was not just the influence

of the skateboard culture though, but the graphic nature of everything, the clothes and the individual style of different skateboarders, as well as the skateboard graphics and logos. After going to design school, I was influenced and inspired by my family. My father and most of my family were architects, and my grandfather, of course. He would always say: "Style is everything."

You were originally working for an agency, and have now gone off to start your own studio. Describe the transition. I used to work at a large agency in Seattle called Hornall Anderson Design for five years after school. It taught me a great deal about building brands on a large scale. We worked on a lot of big brand type projects—Starbucks, Microsoft, Pepsi, even Mammoth Mountain, which was one of my favorite projects to date.

So you are self-taught as well as art school educated? Both. Before going to design school I started a clothing company, which we had for 2 years.

When I moved to NYC, I was interested in taking a break from the corporate world. I shifted my focus towards working with clients in fashion and the arts. I worked at the MoMA for a little MAY 2014

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while as an exhibition designer and then went on to work for Wolff Olins, a brand consultancy. I have always had a lot of respect for Wolff Olins’ design sensibility. They always looked like they were having more fun than any other agency. I worked there for a little over a year before deciding to start my own studio, which comes with its own challenges. There is a great deal of work in NYC. You just have to be curious enough to find it. The greatest challenge to owning your own studio is figuring out how much compromise you are willing to make. I try to compromise as little as possible and have as much fun as possible. I think it's important to stay small. It's hard to stay true to who you are and what you started once you grow over a certain size. It's the challenge that most agencies face on a daily basis. I am happy to say that we can say no to work that does not fit with who we are. What was the breakthrough? The moment when the projects started coming one after another? I am still waiting for my breakthrough.

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One of the things I love about your design, and let's use your MoMA work as an example, is that it’s almost an art piece unto itself. Typography stands out. Talk about typography and how central it is to your projects. I have always been heavily inspired by the typographic side of design. More and more companies and brands are trying to create something that is proprietary, and so many of them fail. What we try to create with every project is something unique and timeless. This usually takes shape through something that is more typographic driven. What is the dream project? It's in the works.

For more information about Javas Lehn Studio, visit javaslehnstudio.com JUXTAPOZ.COM / DESIGN

Hôtel Americano Basquiat's Glasses Photographed by Henry Leutwyler

BLACK RAINBOW

June 21st – August 24th 2014

CLUCA B. MAD Jay Dart Juno Youn Bernice Lum Ron Loranger Michael Toke Drew Simpson Johan Jansson Jonathan Savoie Jamie Bradbury Maryanna Hardy Katherine Melançon ERXO6DLQW/DXUHQW0RQWU«DO4X«EHF +76&DQDGD JDOHULH\RXQFRP

FASHION

ONLY NEW YORK REELING IT IN WITH CO-FOUNDER MICAH BELAMARICH IN UPPER MANHATTAN MICAH BELAMARICH AND I BOTH GREW UP AVID fisherman on the waters around the Five Boroughs, though our tastes diverge when it comes to fishing styles. Personally I am into the heavier stuff, downriggers and trolling, while he’s into light tackle. However, with his co-founded brand ONLY, he has created something that embodies a New York we both know. Bold design, the late ‘90s, skateboarding, graffiti, and of course, fishing. ONLY isn’t just striking, fashion-forward aesthetics. Guided by strong principles and respect for local resources, most of their products are made in the USA. —Brent Gentile Brent Gentile: What are the origins of ONLY? Micah Belamarich: ONLY is an independent clothing brand based out of Manhattanville, NYC which is along the Hudson River in Upper Manhattan. ONLY was founded in late 2006 by myself, Andrew Shear and Julian Goldstein. We all grew up on the Upper West Side and went to public school together. As a creative person, it made a lot of sense for me to try to make a career out of my creative passions and drive. Starting a clothing brand was something I was interested in during high school. In the city, there was a lot of focus on gear, a lot of kids were collecting North Face, Polo, and others. I think that played a big role in starting our own brand that could represent us and a new generation. As the founder of ONLY, what is your direct involvement with the brand? Generally speaking, I drive most of the creative initiatives and have done probably around 90% of the logos and graphics we put out. I act as the creative director in terms of envisioning the collections. However, my partner Julian deserves a ton of creative credit as well. We work really well together and finalize everything as a group. We like to get feedback and input from everyone in the office. What’s your take on brands out there today preaching “heritage” and made in USA principles when in reality, it’s just a lot of noise? ONLY really makes an effort to manufacture domestically. In fashion there are always the companies and brands who just jump on and follow trends. That's how business works. It doesn't really phase me anymore. From the beginning, we have tried to make everything in the USA. Unfortunately, it is pretty challenging. Finding good manufacturers, or just manufacturers in general, is one of the biggest challenges of our enterprise. But, at the end of the day, it simply feels right to support other businesses in the US.

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Growing up on Long Island, fishing played a huge role in my life and, without a doubt, taught me patience. Something about waiting hours on end for that cow striped bass, right? Has fishing impacted your artwork and design? Observation of nature has always been a huge inspiration for me, and I do it everywhere. I think that plays a big role in fishing. You need to know how to monitor the current conditions when you're fishing to determine how and what to fish for. It usually comes down to reading the water. I think creating art and designing can be very similar. You have to asses the task at hand and try a bunch of different things to find what works. Yeah, the nuances that go into fishing are incredible, everything from the color lure, tides, bait, type of fish, depths, temperature, is a sort of mad science. What's your dream catch? I've had my share of dream catches, mostly saltwater, inshore, and on light tackle. Right now I would say my dream catch would be a Bonito on the fly rod from the stone pier (RIP) in Woods Hole. Unfortunately, Bonito have been very scarce over the past six to eight years or so, especially inshore where you can have a good chance at one. It's been probably six years since I caught one, or even seen much of them, sadly.

Growing up in the Upper West Side, have you always fished the Hudson? Actually, no. As much as I wish it was fishable, it really isn't, at least on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. The water is naturally really murky, especially when the tide is coming from up river rather than the harbor. The visibility is awfully poor so fishing lures or flies, which I use, don't really work too well. I've seen a handful of small stripers and white perch caught on bait along the Upper West/Harlem; that's about it. People do a lot of crabbing. I've never seen anyone fish lures or fly fish on the Hudson in Upper Manhattan, and I've done a ton of searching online in hopes to find something—but nothing. Every summer, I start to convince myself that it can be done, especially since the water is literally just across the street from our office. I've only seen a handful of top water activity in the Hudson over the course of my entire life. I recently found an article about a guy who fly fished the Hudson on the UWS and would catch giant stripers from an inflatable raft. It was an article in Sports Illustrated, published in the late ‘70s. I was psyched to read it but couldn't believe any of it. One part describes catching small 12" schoolie stripers pretty constantly in between these "giants.” The funny thing is, the two stripers my dad and I have caught in the Hudson (mine in Riverdale, Bronx and my dad's on 96th St.) were both 12" and on the fly rod.

BEYOND THE STORY ONLY NY has collaborated with a few artists that you have seen in the pages of Juxtapoz over the years. Not only has the brand featured graphics from cover stories Grotesk and Andy Rementer, but ONLY’s “The Newsstand” blog feed features an array of up-and-coming graffi ti and fine art talent.

Photo by Dakota Gordon

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I see a lot of reference to 1997 in ONLY. Where's that come from? 1997 was a really influential year for my friends and me. We were really young and started getting exposed to and involved in a lot of street activities such as graffiti, skateboarding, and gear. The Upper West Side was a lot different back then. There was a pretty big graffiti scene. Since the inception of ONLY, 1997 has become the year with which we associate and identify the brand. It has a lot of personal meaning for me. How'd the name ONLY come about? Were there some other choices that didn't make the cut? Or love at first sight? I spent about four months trying to come up with a brand name. It was really difficult. I didn't want to force it. I honestly can't remember any of the other names, but when I came up with ONLY and ONLY NY, I knew I finally had got it. My brain started racing and the concept of the brand immediately started to form. I got the name from a thesaurus at school, searching the word unique. I couldn't wait to get out of class and tell everyone.

Can you talk about balancing your fine art career with ONLY? Balancing my personal art with ONLY has always been enjoyable and keeps me inspired. I don't really consider my fine art as a career at this point, it's more of a passion or hobby. I consider myself both an artist and a designer and I enjoy doing both pretty much equally. ONLY has been the main outlet for my design, and "Micah NYC" is my personal art. While they definitely influence one another, I've kept them pretty separate. I work on ONLY 40-50 hours a week, mostly at the office, and do art either after work at night or on the weekends at home. It helps me relax. Sometimes I wish I could spend more time doing art, but at the end of the day, ONLY is what I enjoy doing as an actual career. I figure I will have plenty of time to draw and paint when I retire. Running your own business is no joke!

For more information about Micah Belamarich and ONLY, visit micahnyc.com and onlynylives.com JUXTAPOZ.COM / FASHION

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top right Photo by Derek Wood top left Hydrant Canvas Krink Mop 60" x 48" 2013 bottom left Lamp Post Canvas Hydrant Do 'Em Dirty Mop 60" x 48" 2013

Accalia and the Swamp Monster Kelli Scott Kelley Reproductions of Kelley’s artwork—mixed-media paintings executed on repurposed antique linens— punctuate the tale of Accalia, who is tasked with recovering the arms of her father from the belly of the swamp monster. Rich in symbolism and expertly composed, Accalia and the Swamp Monster is both an entrancing display of Kelley’s art and an affirmation of the transformative power of fairy tales. 50 color illustr ations $29.95 cloth

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INFLUENCES

BRENDAN MONROE MODERN METAMORPHOSES, ART AND ALCHEMY

BRENDAN MONROE USED TO PAINT THE MOST beautiful blobs you could ever imagine. And even though he isn’t a scientist, he transforms biology into fine art, finding the spaces between consciousness and ambiguity (although he did in fact have a microbiologist interview him for his monograph, b.monroe). His paintings and sculptures have been shown around the world, including standout solo exhibitions at Cooper Cole in Torotnto, Richard Heller in Los Angeles, and Galerie LJ in Paris. When asked about his influences, Monroe began to brainstorm the very essence of his artwork, stockpiling words and environments from which his characters and scenes emerge. When was the last time you read that an artist was inspired by “lumps of gooey material”? From a stint in Stockholm and back to Oakland, California, here is the return of the blob.

ACTIVITY / MOVEMENT / CURRENTS / ACCUMULATION

LATTICEWORK OF BONE / FLIES / MAGGOTS / BURIAL / DIRT

GROWTH OVER TIME / DRIPS / WATER / GRAVITY / BLOOD

DECAY OF PLANTS / DEATH / GROWTH / LIFE UNDERGROUND

AMINO ACIDS / TRANSFER OF LIQUIDS INTO GASES / FORCES OF

EXTRACTION / THINGS WE MAKE FROM EARTH

PRESSURE / IGNITION / CHEMICAL REACTIONS / LIGHT BENDING

BUILDING ON BUILDINGS / LANDFILL / LANDSCAPES / MINED

TIME PERCEPTION / TAR EXPLORATION / DEEP SEA DIVES

MOUNTAINSIDES / LOCUSTS / CICADAS / LIZARDS

ENDLESS DESERT DUNES / GEOLOGY / PLATE TECTONICS

FUNGAL GROWTHS / ORGANIZATION OF ANTS

LUMPS OF GOOEY MATERIAL / EROSION

CYCLES The cells of plants focus on utilizing the environment to engineer their bodies. Since they stay in the same place for the duration of their lives, they have figured out how to solve this problem. Chemical elements in dirt and atmosphere are absorbed to convert and catalyze into an entirely new living mass. In death they return to the earth, and chemistry continues, dissolving and evaporating, then continuing the cycle with new plant life in their place. As these cycles continue they usher the things normally thought of as stagnant and inanimate, like carbon atoms, into active participation. Over time and generations the contents of land are exchanged, alive, dead, alive again, always repeating existence and continuing through history. Everything cross pollinates the basic elemental exchange in a landscape. -

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MOLD GROWING There’s a science education kit I purchased once to grow slime mold. It comes with petri dishes and a few dry flakes containing spores. By feeding them water and oats (carbohydrates) the mold begins to grow. If the conditions are right, it will flourish and expand out of the petri dish and take over your workspace like some kind of devouring blob, creating a beautifully complicated latticework of slimy neon yellow stuff, as long as it’s kept moist and well fed. There’s an efficiency to the organization it creates, resulting in a freeway-like netting for nutrients and moisture to feed the organism as a whole. -

Portrait by Alex Nicholson left Layers Acrylic on paper 11" x 8.5" 2013 right Ridge Acrylic on paper 24" x 19.5" 2013 bottom Untitled (reservoir) Ink and gouache on paper 9" x 15" 2012

MAY 2014

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PRECIOUS MATERIALS / OLD TREES / BURNED LANDSCAPE / FLASH FLOODS / CORAL REEF CONSTRUCTIONS / OBJECTS WASHING UP ON THE BEACH / LONG JOURNEYS / EMPTINESS / SILENCE HALF AWAKE DREAMS / ELECTRICITY IN THE BODY

PATTERNS IN NATURE / VEINS / LAYERS IN WOOD VOLCANIC REMNANTS / TORNADOES TOUCHING DOWN WHIRLPOOLS / SCALE OF MATTER IN SPACE PLANETARY SPIN / POLAR MAGNETISM / OXYGEN HYDROGEN / IRON

KEPLER TELESCOPE Created to peer as closely as possible at the systems of neighboring stars. The data and images it has gathered are being analyzed, and multitudes of planets are being discovered. This brings up the question of “Are we alone or not?” much closer to the reality of an answer. Whether the answer is yes or no, the stories of more worlds are now an absolute truth. There are infinite possibilities of landscapes, oceans of chemical liquids, and gaseous mixtures of atmospheres. There is the viability of life and how rare or abundant it is. There could be someone out there, very much like ourselves, who is looking back in our direction and thinking about the same thing. There could also be communities of primordial single celled organisms, and it would be just as exciting. -

NERVOUS SYSTEM If you’re lying down or just sitting and begin thinking about your foot, you can feel it… just there, sort of tingling, and pulsing. The electrical paths in the body are telling our brains to understand a sensation. Touch, force, pain, ache, reactions to textures, temperatures and environments. Those billions of tendrils connecting give the body its instantaneous ability to communicate with its parts. Such engineering is a welldeveloped mechanism for the primary purpose of navigation through surroundings and staying alive. -

For more information about Brendan Monroe, visit brendanmonroe.com JUXTAPOZ.COM / BRENDAN - MONROE

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left Float Acrylic on paper 11" x 8.25" 2013 right Secrets Acrylic on paper 10" x 8" 2014

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)6-/()2&6)).)2 8LIVI´WE6MSX+SMR´3R 1E].YRI

530 West 24th Street New York, NY 212 691 7700 freightandvolume.com

CHRIS JOHANSON INTERVIEW BY KRISTIN FARR PORTRAIT BY WYATT TROLL

CHRIS JOHANSON IS ONE OF THE MOST NOTABLE AND INSIGHTFUL ARTISTS OF OUR time. Recognized internationally by museums, biennials, and publishers, he’s remained true to his roots and ideology despite the blue chip fame. His work is challenging, ever-evolving, and an extension of his being. As he says, “I think life is the artwork...” Like many artists, I’ve been inspired by Johanson’s streamof-consciousness approach to art-making and his ability to address meaningful subjects with humor and poignancy. Talking to him is like seeking the counsel of a sage. He is more attuned to universal vibrations than most people, and he is full of good advice. Kristin Farr: Why is Adobe Books your favorite place? Chris Johanson: I don’t think I’m a hopeless romantic or nostalgic person necessarily, but I’ve met many great people here and the vibe is good. Certainly meeting my wife here has a lot to do with it. It’s a democratic place, grounded in a slippery-slope, always-moving world. Change happens always, but this place has a peaceful continuity. I’ve only hung out at the new location a little bit, but the vibe’s still good. It’s perfect. You were telling me that school is everywhere. Can you say more about that? I think it’s helpful to know that school and teachers are wherever you go. There’s something valuable to be learned about anything—etiquette, skills, spiritual information, intellectual being, problem solving, inspiration, whatever. I felt that school was not that fun because of the parameters. I think people operate in different shades of gray or color—some people might have trouble in that environment. I did, and that bothered me for a long time. But now it doesn’t, because that’s not the only school out there. There are all these other schools, like walking down the street and meeting people. Some people are visual learners, some learn from hearing, others are physical learners, and that’s important because you do get stuck in a rut. If you can’t exist within this one zone, then it’s not going to work out, or the road ends. There’s a blockage. But you can just go around that blockage. Tell me about the house project you’re working on in collaboration with your wife, Johanna Jackson. We do lots of art together. We do our individual thing, and then our collaborative thing in the house. We moved to LA and we live on a hill. It’s 120 steps from the street to the house. When we got there, we realized we didn’t want to have too many things, only exactly what we wanted in the house. We made all the furniture out of garbage, and it’s

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been incredible. Johanna made lights and did all the wiring, and I made chairs, tables and racks for everything, and she made the curtains and textile stuff, like cushions. She took industrial sewing classes. My thing is pretty free form, basically learning joinery. We’re making furniture, pottery and cement forms—just taking art out of the gallery. It’s a way to change the dynamic and grow as an artist. What’s it been like having shows all over the world? I’m 45 and I started having shows when I was 20. They were few and far between, and then it ramped up into shows all the time, traveling for years; like being on tour in a band, except that I wasn’t in a band. I was a solo artist, and every time I went somewhere, I wasn’t playing the songs from the last record. It would be like making 15-40 new songs for every show. It became totally exhausting. I quit doing that for a long time. Now I’m doing shows again, but it’s been an insane, professionally weird journey with both good and bad. As far as subject matter, I just think you can’t do the same thing over and over. It becomes deeply not interesting to me, but I do revisit things. You said you consciously stopped making figurative work. I read a mystery anthology about Raymond Chandler, and there was a quote of his about how it became harder to write because it was too easy to write what he was writing. I relate to that experience completely. That figurative art got too easy to not feel like I was doing standards. It became like a chore, stale and not creative. You have to just keep growing, so now I do a little bit of figurative art. Where was your first art show? I grew up in San Jose and my first art show was at an ice cream parlor in Los Gatos, Double Rainbow, where I was working. I had taken a silk-screening class at De Anza College, and I used to make paintings and prints about this dog named Yota, and that was my first art show. Then I moved to San Francisco and I started to have shows at cafés. I had my first real gallery show at William Passarelli’s gallery. It was called Emmanuel Ratnitsky’s Found Objects, referring to Man Ray’s real name. It was a trip. People from the band Flipper were there, and all these local artists who were older and from the early, pre-punk avant garde.

BEYOND THE STORY This is the unabridged version of an interview with Chris Johanson filmed at Adobe Books in San Francisco for a video series Juxtapoz contributing editor Kristin Farr produces for KQED called Art School.

What do you think about the Mission School label? Glen Helfand came up with that for the SF Guardian article he wrote. I’ve known him for a long time. He’s a cool guy, very dedicated to the art scene in San Francisco. I don’t mind the idea of the Mission School, it’s just that the people who get mentioned as being a part of it—I feel pretty strongly that they feel the same way—we don’t really identify with it being a painting thing. For me, it was just a neighborhood thing that involved visual artists, photographers and filmmakers, writers, reporters, activists, performance artists, musicians, and incredible galleries. This is pre-interest, there’s no money going on; it was a beautiful situation, and it all connected, like a thousand people. That’s what it was and is about. There’s a continuum. At this point, it could only really be defined as a really large grouping of storytelling. What are the good and bad parts about being involved in the art market? We’re in a capitalist society, and to me, that’s a strange thing. It has pitfalls, for sure. The professional art life is an

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interesting world—the commercial art world and going to fairs—there’s no rhyme or reason to it. I would like to say that if you worked hard, it would just happen, but that’s not necessarily the case at all. It’s a pretty random situation, what becomes valuable and not valuable. The reality of it doesn’t bother me at all, now that I’ve been involved with it for so long. I see it for what it is, just chance. There’s a very strange who-knows-ness about it. However, I believe working hard pays off. If I’m a gentleman and I keep at my creative thing, I think there’s a way to survive in this world where money is unfortunately a real factor to surviving. I think people can do it. It’s a hard road, but life’s hard, so that shouldn’t be mysterious to anybody. To be a professional artist, you have to have a really thick skin and be prepared for disappointment, but also be available to make good things happen for yourself.

above Untitled Acrylic on paper 24" x 17.75" 2013 Photo by Joshua White right Untitled (The River of Life) Acrylic on paper 24" x 18" 2012

It’s a lot about being in the right place at the right time. I think that’s one of the most fascinating things about the whole journey of being a participant or just looking at it as a cultural anthropologist—seeing how things go down, or rise up, or become spotlighted in the art world. I’ve seen so many ways that it’s happened, and sometimes, yes, it’s just being in the right place at the right time. As far as the academic scene lately, it seems like people are watching artists from Yale or UCLA, USC and CalArts too. The galleries are looking for people that have bright shiny objects that haven’t been shown that much, but that have promise. They can instantly control their markets and raise the pieces to $10,000, $20,000 or $500,000… so there’s that. But that doesn’t interest me at all. What interests me is devoting your personal energy to this life that’s just a slowed-down situation, a more directed, philosophical, slow life. It’s really a trip. You’re almost certainly setting yourself up for a different type of life. Quite often it will not involve a retirement plan, and you’re not going to get benefits. I guess

now it’s changing with the health care mutation, which I’m totally excited about. It’s an excellent babystep. There are so many ways to find a great place to be in the world of art making. It doesn’t necessarily mean that you’ll be selling paintings, but it means that you’re involved somehow, whether working for a non-profit, or working on films. There are many ways to get into interesting, creative jobs where you’re working for an art department and making a good day rate. Then you only work half the months, and the rest of the time you can work on your individual art. Why do you think being nice is important? I would say—to young people and old people, people who don’t know what age they are, and middle-aged people, or anybody who wants to be involved in art—remember to be nice because then you get to do art with other people. If you’re a selfish jerk, people will just end up hating you. Some people hate you anyway, but more people will hate you if you’re not a nice person. The collective vibration will be a lot

more fun. Have shows in garages and galleries; have parties and share your creativity. It’s a good space to be in. I bet anyone that’s been involved in the history of art making and sharing will say the same thing. How do you infuse your energy into your art? When I’m making physical artwork, it’s very meditative and helps create my homeostasis, my better mental headspace. It’s completely a therapeutic type of thing, and that whole thing is the artwork. I think life is the artwork, so a physical thing documents that. Have you always thought of your work as conceptual? I consider my artwork conceptual but only in the sense that the definitions of the art scenes from the past are still happening. Words and definitions are free to go into the next poem or song. Language is always moving around. When I was younger, I didn’t really understand conceptual art. I just took it on at the same time that a lot of people were reinventing that language for themselves—changing it to mean that there is content that you can’t see behind

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this work, and that’s what’s making it. Reimagining that definition, and saying, you know, the concept behind this work is anti-anxiety, or serenity, alienation, or peaceful thoughts. It’s free, and I’m taking it—that’s the way I look at conceptual art. When you paint words, it really makes you slow down and think about them more. You are slowing down your thought process because you have to be in sync with how fast you write down a word, and it puts you into a meditative state, for sure. I don’t meditate in the traditional sense, but I think that I tap into that stuff when I make artwork, and I think that’s what other people do too. That’s what it’s about. Even if it’s intense action painting or whatever, I personally want to do it all. It’s a peaceful endeavor. It’s helpful. How do you use your sketchbooks? I only work on one at a time, but I keep them all, and I refer to them when I go to shows. I bring about three of them. That’s me having my ducks in a row. Sometimes they will be

above Door Sculpture to Talk About the Idea of Different Possibilities You May Have to Process Your Life Project Los Altos: SFMOMA, Los Altos 2013 right I Do Not Know But I Am Open to Learning Project Los Altos: SFMOMA, Los Altos 2013

sketches for installations, or poetry and writing things that I want to do in film. I write the dates down because between that, my datebook, and random photos I keep, I can figure out the timeline of things. That’s a really important system for me to have. What are some words you use to describe your work? The way I describe my artwork is selfish expressionism because it’s just myself and what I have to say. It’s just funny. I’m not a cynical person. I’m not very jaded, but I like to put humor in everything because I think you need humor to survive. Life is bittersweet, and humor is a really good tool for dealing with life. If I call my art selfish expressionism, I think that’s funny because people are self involved. People are a crack-up. Everybody’s a freak. I just think it’s really fitting. That is the only way I describe my work because anything else would seem self-involved, and it’s already self-involved, so that’s about as far as I can take it. I mean, how many art shows can you have? I take what I do seriously, and I have this book coming out, and I’m very happy about it. But I hope another one doesn’t come out for a long time. That’s enough

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for a while. I used to like to do shows all the time. I like to do shows once in a while now, because if you just do art shows all the time, do you really have anything to say? There have to be in-between moments. I got into multi-media art living to keep it from getting stale, and that’s why I play in Sun Foot, the band I’m in with Ron Burns and Brian Mumford. That’s why I have my record label, Awesome Vistas, so I can collaborate with musicians and artists. I just keep things moving around because it gives you some time to have a successful, creative life. You know how cooking is like art? Cooking is one of my favorite arts that I’m involved in. If you are moving your energy around, to me, that’s the same as walking or riding a bike. It’s living, and it doesn’t become about this concerned commodity so much. It keeps things reasonable. I work with wonderful galleries all over the world, but I can’t do it all the time because then I wouldn’t really be making anything other than an object that’s for sale. And then I wouldn’t be bringing anything of value to that commercial gallery dynamic because it would just be dead art. It would be nothing.

above Untitled Acrylic on paper 21" x 5.75" 2012 right Untitled( StraightForward) Acrylic on paper 23" x 17.5" 2012 Photo by Joshua White

There are art pieces that can only happen if I can walk around. Where my studio is, in Highland Park, there are no big pieces of wood to find, so all my work is made out of small pieces of wood that I put together. I sit with the wood, and sometimes the shape of the wood tells me something about how the painting’s going to go. I like to make pieces about the sun, and a new day, and that kind of stuff, and I can only make a round painting if I find a round piece of wood. I’m not going to cut a piece of wood into a circle. It has its own pace, and that’s just the way it goes.

more. I used to want to know, but now I don’t. I don’t care at all. I used to totally know why I did everything that I did, but that became a dead end. I had to unlearn that by not doing it. I quit making art for a little over two years. I refused to even think about it. I dug holes in my backyard and planted trees and blueberry bushes, and just walked around my neighborhood. It was fantastic. I didn’t do any art almost the whole time. And then I unlearned all this stuff that I thought was so important. Because it was important then. But then it became not important at all. It was an interesting time.

How does your brain relate to color? I like working with color and cans of paint that I find. It’s a dynamic way to communicate. Yellow like the sun, brown like the ground, blue like the sky, green like growth, gray like the gray area, and black like resting or restorative energy.

For more information about Chris Johanson, visit chrisjohanson.com

I used to like knowing why I was painting, so I put a lot of meaning into everything, but now I don’t. And that’s been a fun thing, to not want to know why I’m doing things any

JUXTAPOZ.COM / CHRIS - JOHANSON

Check out two videos featuring Chris Johanson at KQED.org/ArtSchool

MAY 2014

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NICK CAVE INTERVIEW AND PORTRAIT BY CALEB NEELON

WHEN THE RODNEY KING VERDICT WAS ANNOUNCED IN 1992, Nick Cave was alone in a city park and felt compelled to do something physical. He gathered sticks. They became the first of his more than 500 Soundsuits—giant wearable costumes that obscure the wearer's identity, race, and gender. Subsequent materials like plush toys, buttons, potholders, hook rugs, sequins or pipe cleaners, take on forms that evoke vessels, mountains, religious attire, and even instrument cases. They became one of the more identifiable and successful bodies of work by an artist in the past twenty years, but Nick Cave is stepping away for the time being. I spoke with the Missouri-born artist on his birthday as he was about to open a show at the Institute of Contemporary Art, Boston. Comprised of two spaces, the exhibit features a room full of his famous Soundsuits and a second with newer works built around found ceramic dogs perched on suitably gaudy sofas. Caleb Neelon: What was it like growing up as one of eight brothers? I wonder if, as a young artist, that would have been hell. Nick Cave: It was great. We were raised that you always loved one another. We had our fights, and we had to kiss and make up. That was just how it was. And even today, we love and respect each other. They come to as many openings as they possibly can. I mean, five of the seven are jocks, straight-up jocks, and I'm thinking they don't have a clue as to what I do, but I'm amazed at how much they do know. Jocks wear uniforms... Exactly! So it's really quite exciting. My birthday is today. Happy birthday! Thank you. And they all texted me Happy Birthday. We grew up together like a basketball team, all eight in a row, one year apart. My father passed away when I was eighteen, right when I was going into undergraduate art school. Eight children had to have stretched a single mother economically, so there must have been some real difference makers in your life. You know, there was another family, and whatever we had left over from dinner, we would take to them. So I never knew that we had nothing because there was this family that we were also feeding. I wasn’t raised in a surrounding where that was even recognized. I think it's really how you are placed in the world and the structure around it. I remember once, when we literally didn't have any food, my mother wondered, “Oh my god what am I going to do, we don't have anything for dinner.” She created a popcorn party. We all had popcorn, we came together, and we all had fun. We really were not aware of the circumstances. It was a very protected and unconditional set of affairs. I never

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knew what it was to not have anything. At the end of the day, they wanted you to be happy. I look back on that and think about how I was equipped and groomed to be who I am today. Even as a kid, I was prepped with the sensibility of art in my existence; it was brought to my attention. There was that, and the teachers in life who condition and shape you to focus and find a direction. Somebody handed me off to somebody else, and they each did what they had to do. There was an amazing infrastructure in place, and I'm here because of that.

BEYOND THE STORY He's not the Australian musician who plays with the Bad Seeds. Different guy, same name. He's one of eight children, all boys. He currently chairs the Fashion Design department at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

When did dance enter? As a kid, I was always around theater and dance in school, but did I ever think of dance as a career? Probably not. But you end up meeting Alvin Ailey. That was when I was in undergraduate school at Kansas City Art Institute. I was interested in performance and movement. I took dance as an elective to feed back into that, never as a career goal. And the same with fashion? Same thing. I have always been interested in it, working at Macy's, and I also had a store with another person where we did collections and sold to about 300 stores across the country. But I kept art as a secret from that whole collector and buyer perspective. I never really even brought those two moments together, but I was interested in one feeding into the other. And at the end of the day, you know what's really your core. As the chair of the graduate fashion department of the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, you must think about that all the time. Where do the lines of fashion and art intersect? Where it lies for me, and where I find it to be the most interesting, is at the couture level. At that level it's about theater, setting the stage—a level of presentation that is mind-boggling. You're collaborating with lighting and set designers to really showcase this elaborate collection. It's not what you see in stores, but it's about the vision. And that vision is what filters down into a ready-to-wear collection. It's the feeder.

All images courtesy of the artist and Jack Shainman Gallery, New York. All photos by James Prinz Photography Soundsuit Mixed media including fabric and sequins 108" x 27" x 15" 2013

And at that high point, things can get a little fuzzy between there and here, in the gallery. Yeah, it's fun. It's theater and dance, and it's an interesting position and place to be. For me, it was looking at that, looking at art, and looking at ideas associated to craft— asking how could I align all of these ideas, then reshape and re-form a new way of thinking. I asked curator Jenelle Porter if she had the chance to try one of your Soundsuits on, and she didn't. While we just met today, I won't lie, right now I’m sizing up how much time I'll have to spend around you before asking if I could put one on. What is the immediate reaction people have when they put on a Soundsuit for the first time, or I should say, when a Soundsuit wears them? It's interesting you say that. I talk about the object or the work that you are going to be wearing. I ask them to imagine what it is going to feel like. Prepare yourself for this transition. Touch it, experience it in this imaginary sort of way. And then I tell people, when you put it on, don't even

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move at first. Just become one with the object; otherwise it's wearing you. You've got to be able to surrender to this transformative space, or else you really lose control and fall apart. Individuals need to take out the time to surrender to this shift—because what happens is your identity, gender, race, is no longer relevant. I'm forced to look at something without judgment. It's about projection and conviction. I know that you are in the Soundsuit, but how are you going to establish an identity that allows coming face-to-face with this other. It takes time, but when you do reach that shift, it's amazing when that happens. There is something so beautiful and timeless about these, but at the same time, they are often so rooted in contemporary events, or cued by them. Exactly. Rodney King, Trayvon Martin, and so on. I just started working on a new body of work that is titled TM13, the Trayvon Martin series. It's rooted around identity,

above Soundsuit Mixed media including crochet blanket and sequins 108" x 27" x 14" 2013 right Soundsuit Mixed media including fabric, buttons, and shopping cart 110" x 24" x 24" 2011 following spread left Sculpture Mixed media including ceramic birds, metal flowers, ceramic Rottweiler, and vintage slipper sofa 86" x 71" x 52" 2013 following spread right Soundsuit Mixed media including fabric, buttons, and bentwood chair 118" x 24" x 28" 2012

DON'T EVEN MOVE AT FIRST. JUST BECOME ONE WITH THE OBJECT; OTHERWISE IT'S WEARING YOU it's rooted around profiling, fear, the unknown, ritual, the cultural kaleidoscope, maybe Haitian voodoo, as well as around the surplus of the world and how we renegotiate that. It's established around economic boundaries, race, and being open to being empowered by these ideas in coming up with something that appears to become larger than life. Was Chicago the city of your imagination growing up, and did you always envision being there? I could have gotten into a lot of shit in New York, but in Chicago I can have an amazing studio environment. I think of Chicago as my open canvas, my testing ground, and that's how I use it. At one point, I thought I would be living in New York with everybody else. But knowing I have the ability to jump into the center of it all and then jump back is what it's saying to me—Chicago has protected me from being lost, from being seduced. Are most of your supplies sourced locally? No, they're from all over the country. We did some scavenging here in Boston. But we'll fly to Seattle, rent a van, and drive back and find things. Go to Mexico. You must get boxes of items mailed to you from people who find things that they feel might interest you, right? It's never what I really want! So, I appreciate it but decline. Tell me about these newer dog pieces. As a dog owner, I look at them, and where the Soundsuits have the human at the core, these have the absence of the human at the core—that old saying that if you want the most comfortable seat in the house, move the dog. Exactly. It's a displaced human being. When I started to transition to this work, I asked myself, how do I transfer the essence? Once you understand that, this work can be embraced with the same intensity. Are you a dog owner? I am. And this was a lot about “You're my dog,” the street idea of guardianship and protection. There is also the role of the dog within 19th century painting, the baroque, the idea of dens, and also the role of class, of purebred and not purebred. It gave this edge: Is it friendly, or is it not friendly?

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On another topic, I wanted to know about Dakar, Senegal, and the large-scale work you did at the American Embassy. Amazing. It was working with the Art in Embassies program with Virginia Shore in Washington DC. They wanted me to make a large piece for the entryway of the new embassy in Dakar. And the Embassy, I'm sure, was an incredible building. Awesome. They're huge fortresses. I had been there and to the one in Haiti where I had done another piece. In Dakar, I needed to somehow involve the community, so I brought to Virginia's attention that it needed to be a collaboration. It was incredible to go to studios and see the work of Senegalese artists, as it really became a project within a project. I didn't want it to be just me coming in, doing a performance and leaving. You have another Massachusetts show looming in the Fall of 2016 at Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art, which, for those who haven't been, is pretty much a massive old New England mill building-turned-museum space that every artist dreams of. Think airplane hangar with exposed brick walls, right near the Berkshires. How are you approaching that one? What I will say about that project is I'm going to put you in the belly of a Soundsuit. When you know it's a show that's going to run for a whole year, it changes things. And there is the Jack Shainman show this fall in New York, which is going to be new work, but no Soundsuits. Stepping away from Soundsuits had to take some guts. You know, it really didn't. I was feeling it, and decided, you know what, I'm doing it. We have to keep moving. I had been thinking about it for a while. And I’m planning to take a tenyear hiatus. I have ideas for new ones, but I'm ready to talk about some other things.

Nick Cave’s work will be on display at the Boston ICA through May 4th, 2014 For more information about Nick Cave, visit nickcaveart.com JUXTAPOZ.COM / NICK - CAVE

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Soundsuit Mixed media including sequins and beads 72" x 30" x 30" 2006-2012

Soundsuit Mixed media including rugs and crocheted blanket Approximately 98 ⅜" x 21 ⅝" 2011

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WINNIE TRUONG INTERVIEW BY KRISTIN FARR PORTRAIT BY JAMIE CAMPBELL

WINNIE TRUONG DRAWS HAIR BETTER THAN ANYONE, and her subjects are soulful and strange, but the way we categorize them in our minds says more about us than them. They are otherworldly and they seem comfortable being hairy, so who are we to judge? Some art leaves you full of questions. After admiring her work for years, I finally had the chance to ask Winnie everything I’d ever wondered, and the questions had really piled up. Why is she so obsessed with hair? How much time does she spend drawing all this hair? What kind of sandwiches does she like? You’re about to find out. For our 20th anniversary, it’s only natural to be featuring an artist who grew up inspired by the pages of this magazine. Winnie Truong was five years old when the first issue of Juxtapoz hit the shelves, and she is now a successful, internationally exhibiting artist. What goes around comes around, and I know Jux will continue to inspire generations of fresh talent in a sublime, everlasting cycle. Cheers to Winnie Truong, the artists she will inspire, and the next 20 years. Kristin Farr: Who do you think has the most beautiful hair in the universe? What does the ultimate hairdo look and smell like in your mind? Winnie Truong: To answer both questions at once: if Jared Leto’s perfectly ombre’d man-bun smelled like cinnamon. What is the sandwich of your dreams? Something that is all at once spicy, meaty, cheesy, and presented to me open-faced. That would be ideal. Can my answer be pizza? Yes. Have you been drawing since you could hold a pencil? I’ve been drawing since as far back as I can remember. It was a way for my parents to keep me busy. They would buy stacks of the three-ring binder paper, unwrap it, and let me have at it. I would fill up those pages with pen drawings of girls eating ice cream and playing tennis because that’s just where my head was at in ‘92. Why do you think you are so obsessed with hair? Is hair a metaphor for something? Hair continues to fascinate me as a subject in art. On a physical level, I have a relationship with hair, and the very act of drawing each strand is equal to a mark made on paper. Hair is something we all have. It’s naturally occurring on our bodies and we style and adorn it in different expressions of class, culture, gender, and even personality, especially at its extremes. Working with hair is a way for me to question and subvert our heavily coded ideas of beauty and the status

quo. In my work, hair serves as a stand-in for those external tensions, while also expressing the individual qualities of the subject. Are you also obsessed with faces in general? I wouldn’t say that I’m obsessed with the human face but rather captivated by the range in human individuality that comes from the basic template: two eyes, a nose and a mouth. Whether I’m perusing “chicks with Steve Buscemi eyes” or “celebrities without teeth,” I’ve always been fascinated by portraiture and the figure because of its immediate and empathic relationship with the viewer. For me, coming up with different types of characters and their features is something I’m naturally inclined to do in my doodling. Do you get inspiration from faces you see in everyday life? While I work loosely from models in magazines, I see my drawings more as anonymous portraits of subjects that exist at the fringe of biological possibility. I get a lot of inspiration from people watching and fashion and hair magazines. From there, I enjoy coming up with weird transmutations of those models and trends in my sketchbooks as both entertainment and brainstorming exercises. I tend to generalize the features and, over time, my drawings carry more of a likeness to one another than to the original sources. Have you always made these hair portraits? How do you define them? I’ve always seen hair as the primary character in my portraits and have always worked loosely with likeness, never portraying actual people. I prefer to embrace homogeny when I draw facial features, letting the characters in my work exist as a species and genus amongst themselves. I’m comfortable with considering my work as both “Hair Portrait” and “Hairy Portrait” because the subject of hair as extension and metaphor for personality is central.

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WORKING WITH HAIR IS A WAY FOR ME TO QUESTION AND SUBVERT OUR HEAVILY CODED IDEAS OF BEAUTY AND THE STATUS QUO Do they feel like something you could keep drawing for years? It’s really hard to say. I love everything about being in the studio and drawing on paper at the moment. As far as subject matter goes, I think that shift will occur organically.

ourselves and with others. I play with the asymmetries/ imperfect symmetries of the figure and leave the determination of reflection, split personality, or twin up to the viewer. I am always interested in eliminating the line where the self begins and the veil or “other” ends.

When there are two figures wrapped up in the same hair, is it two different people, twins, or two sides of the same person? With that series, I started dreaming of hair as something beyond ornament and accoutrement, and instead allowed it to overflow and become an enveloping and immersive substance. It is at once comforting and all consuming. These works explore the relationship tensions we have within

I was just about to ask if you think about the masks people wear, in terms of veiling certain aspects of their true selves. Like the twin figures, the works that contain split portraits delve much more into appearance as façade, who we put forward and who we contain within ourselves. In those drawings it’s about not knowing which appearance is the one that is put on, and which is the subject unveiled and at rest.

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above Palaver Pencil crayon on paper 50" x 44" right Oblivion Pencil crayon on paper 44" x 36" above

What is your relationship to your own hair? I’m pretty tame with my own hairstyles. I’m all for familiarity and comfort in my own life and save the time and labor of hair maintenance for the drawing surface. The most dramatic shift in my own appearance since high school may very well be that I gave up on bangs in early 2013. As far as the rest of the body goes, I usually do maintenance according whim or warmer weather. Do your figures have exaggerated body hair or something more supernatural? How about the facial lines—is it hair, or a cross-hatching style? Sometimes it looks like grown-out peach fuzz. I have always envisioned my figures existing on the fringe of our own reality; just beyond what we familiarize ourselves with as the biological norm while still echoing elements of our world… so there is definitely a sci-fi element I won’t discourage. As far as faces and flesh, I made the decision very early on to maintain the consistency of texture and line, and allow that ambiguity between flesh and hair to persist in the work. The drawing style definitely lends itself to the peach fuzziness or vibration of line and color. It’s essentially a series of cross-hatched lines to create the effect of optical mixing, with layers of different strokes of color that blend when viewed from a distance. What do you like about the beautiful/grotesque juxtaposition? I am still very interested in creating work that straddles that subliminal space between hair as beautiful and hair as something abject and grotesque. That ambiguity fascinates me, and I think it gets back to the core of our relationship with hair and how we react to it when it grows in familiar and acceptable places, and then its ability to repulse when it diverges from those norms. Often it only takes the weight of one coarse and curly hair to tip that scale. Would you say the hair has been growing longer, stronger and more enveloping recently? In my previous show A Slow Immersion in Toronto, I had blankets and wrappings of hair as both the subject and a metaphor for the ongoing relationship with drawing it in the studio. Today, I see my drawings as an equal balance of visual and visceral experience. Drawing is both a final product on paper and an immersive physical activity that takes place in my studio during the time of production. However, with the time I spend drawing, I often find my free moments of thought and memory are overshadowed by automatic drawing on the back of my eyelids… similar to the “Tetris Effect” but instead of a mental puzzle of falling blocks and disappearing lines, I am drawing wisps and braids in my mind before I fall asleep. Tell me about how you make under drawings and why you began working that way. For the large-scale pieces, it’s essential for me to make an under drawing from colored chalk pastels in the preliminary stages so I can block out major areas of light, shadow and color. It keeps me available to make adjustments and

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grand gestures early on without being held back by making too many precious little marks while the work is still in development. Even though most of the chalk is brushed or smudged away when the drawing is done, it leaves behind general areas of softness that I really enjoy. You make tiny, perfect sketches before you do the huge pieces, right? For the most part, I start with doodling in sketchbooks when I’m bored as a way to collect inspiration. If there is something I’m particularly drawn to, it becomes a postcard-sized study, which is much more accomplished in detail and color than the original doodle. The studies allow me to see what groupings of subjects and color work together when I plan out series, as well as allowing me to clearly visualize what a 4x6’ piece might look like weeks before it’s complete. Are the flower arrangements of hair representative of the afterlife? While those works draw from the Victorian tradition and

Foundlings Pencil crayon on paper 11" x 14" right Siren Pencil crayon on paper 44" x 50"

practice of creating hair jewelry and keepsakes for loved ones who’ve passed, I was interested in taking a physical part of someone that doesn’t decay, and creating imaginary crafts and ornamental arrangements for sheer aesthetic pleasure. I imagined vases and baskets that are both colorful and lively, and have been lovingly made from the haircuts of characters in my other drawings. Tell me about your pencil crayons. I’ve never tried them. I have a lifelong love of using pencil crayons for their freedom, simplicity, and immediacy. Historically speaking, drawing has always been valued as a preliminary companion to painting and sculpture. For me, it’s a nostalgic and seemingly juvenile tool I can use to create something both monumental and fragile. They’re accessible and easy to handle and maintain. They are also very satisfying to look at just laid out as a gradient on my drawing table. How has the scale of your work changed over time? I am much more comfortable going back and forth between

large detailed drawings and precious studies than I was before. I’ve embraced the “study” sized complete works more than I used to, meaning I won’t reiterate it in a large scale for the sake of it. Do you stress your muscles and joints drawing hair repeatedly forever? There is definitely a lot of stretching and tea breaks in my studio routine. But I also think that with the way I work on such a large scale, I use a lot more of my upper body as a whole, so there’s not too much repetition that causes worry. Email correspondences and website maintenance on the other hand does impose a greater carpal tunnel threat. Why do your characters often have serious expressions? I think it comes from a lot of my experience with life drawing in high school and throughout my undergrad. One thing you learn about drawing from a live model is that during a long session, their initial expression will slowly relax and settle into a thousand yard stare… and it’s this neutral

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I AM STILL VERY INTERESTED IN CREATING WORK THAT STRADDLES THAT SUBLIMINAL SPACE BETWEEN HAIR AS BEAUTIFUL AND HAIR AS SOMETHING ABJECT AND GROTESQUE resting face that I default to, and that ties into my inclination towards creating an ambiguous tone with hair leading the conversation. Not to toot our own horn, but you told me you’ve gotten some inspiration from Juxtapoz over the years. What’s stood out to you? Juxtapoz exposed a suburban high school art kid like me to a whole variety of art practices that weren’t so text-book in nature. That there was art out there that was culturally significant, while being fun, fluid and personal—this feeling persists today, every time I pick up Juxtapoz, or read from the myriad art blogs as I make new art discoveries. What do you listen to or watch in the studio? These days, it’s a mix of This American Life, Radiolab, comedy podcasts, and Twilight Zone radio plays. What keeps you in Toronto? Are you planning to go to grad school? For the most part, I really enjoy living in Toronto. I spent my childhood years here and permanently settled here after graduating from art school. It’s a young city with a growing creative scene with funding and support for young artists. It’s also within reasonable distance to other major hubs like New York and Montreal, and connected with different art scenes. However, when the time does come, I would love to do my MFA abroad. Any good stories from shows or art fairs? I was in New York for the opening of my last exhibition at Mulherin Pollard and had an afternoon off to go see shows. I saw Michael K Williams (played Omar Little on The Wire) at the Basquiat exhibit at the Gagosian in 2013 and couldn’t share my excitement at the time with my husband because he wasn’t there, but I can share it with you all now! One of your drawings had teeth growing out of the hair, and it reminded me of those stories about tumors with stuff growing inside them. Is that something you’ve investigated? For that piece, I was Googling fibroid tumours (good luck to the curious) as a source of inspiration. I grew up watching a lot of Guinness Book of World Records and Ripley’s Believe it or Not, and I’m pretty sure it was from one of those segments. The human body is all at once terrifying and fascinating. Other fun terms to Google include Hyperdontia and Trypophobia.

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Tell me about stuff you collect. For Valentine’s Day, my best friend Lisa got me a realistically rendered ceramic tooth that I keep on a shelf by my dining room table. A few months prior to that, my friend Matt gifted me a giant, stained cow molar that rattled loose from a skull he had. While I haven’t been actively seeking specimens to collect, I have a good feeling this will be a naturally accruing collection. How do you describe your lifestyle? I would describe my lifestyle as equal parts hard work and relaxation. I spend almost all of my days during the week in the studio drawing or incubating new ideas, and my evenings with friends biking around the city when the weather is nice. I live here with my husband, Darren, and we love it very much. Do you have any pets, and is fur as interesting to you as hair? I have a cat, Berlin (name given by her previous owner) and I often give myself the task of harvesting her fur from her favorite spots around our home. I’ve also taken up needle felting little creatures in the evening while I watch Law and Order SVU, which I think flows with my overall interest with hair as well. Do you do the needle felting with cat fur? Not yet! I work with pre-dyed wools for the most part. It's something I have thought of and that has been suggested many times. I have small reserves of her fur on a curio shelf but won't be working with it until I learn to properly clean and prepare it. I’ve looked at a book called Crafting with Cat Hair that is adorable, horrifying and kitsch. Besides cat hair crafts, what’s coming up for you this year? I just had my solo show, Rites of Passage, in April at Galleri Benoni in Copenhagen, and I am working towards another solo exhibition at Erin Stump Projects in Toronto this fall. As well I will be a part of this year’s Suggestivism group show curated by Nathan Spoor at Copro Gallery in Santa Monica this August.

For more information about Winnie Truong, visit winnietruong.com JUXTAPOZ.COM / WINNIE - TRUONG

Other Ways Of Knowing Pencil crayon on paper 44" x 36"

ALEXIS ROSS

INTERVIEW BY AUSTIN MCMANUS PORTRAIT BY JEFF JOHNSEN

ALEXIS ROSS HAS STORIES TO TELL. After some brief banter with Ross, it became apparent that he is a skilled raconteur and proficient in the local vernacular of the Los Angeles region. When I disclosed the various Westside cities I grew up in, he offered a detailed list of dates and personal experiences of those places. In one of our first conversations, reassuring him of the informality of this interview, he shrugged, “I'm not particularly an artist. I'm mostly a guy who sits on the porch smoking cigarettes in between long naps. I stretch my creative fingers perhaps four times a year. Ultimately, I'm an example of just how far laziness can get you.” If that was an attempt to deter me from pursuing this interview, it had the obverse effect. With hoards of artists anxiously scratching for recognition, it’s refreshing to see a fairly apathetic approach, a general lack of interest in garnering attention: no website, no social media, no carefully curated package peddling his “art.” Ironically, many of the friends Ross keeps are the current pioneers, curators, and proponents of the contemporary art world. Attention is only a phone call or coffee away. When Ross does surface to work on projects, they are usually each uniquely different. Unbeknownst to many is that Ross played an integral role in realizing the epic Street Market installation for Art In The Streets at LA’s MOCA in 2011. One of his rare displays of paintings was a two-person exhibition with Todd James. He also contributed to Steve Powers’ The Dreamland Artist Club project and was commissioned by UNDFTD to paint an entire billboard with his friend Phyn. On the apparel side, he has designed elegantly awesome t-shirts for Stussy, FUCT, RVCA and The Seventh Letter. Ross continues to operate quietly under the radar. By choice, obviously. I’m still surprised he agreed to speak, as he doesn’t do many interviews. However, I believe it gives us all some context about who, indeed, is the president of Majestic Persuasions, co-creator of Cafe Legs and vice-president of the Gents of Desire. Mindful that he is an exceptionally wellrounded creator of things, I just won’t use the word “artist.” Austin McManus: How’s your day going? Alexis Ross: Pretty typical. In between jobs, so I am perched on the front porch watching dust collect on my neighbor's palm tree, smoking cigarettes and counting on my fingers how many years until I can retire with a full pension.

How would you fill your days if you were able to retire tomorrow? Start with one hell of a nap, then probably get down to the chores around the house I have been putting off. I recently found a note my wife left me back in 2008 asking me to measure the windows for awnings. Would be cool to finally do that. There's enough stuff on these lists to keep me busy for the next five years. Besides, it would just be nice to be around for the holidays and family birthdays, which I end up missing because of work. I would still reserve my morning time for other people's design problems, and work on those solutions before my morning nap. Then, ultimately, find some other retired dudes to kick it with, sit at Canter’s with them and call ourselves the ROMEOs (Retired Old Men Eating Out). Why do you like smoking cigarettes so much? When I was 22, I gave up heroin and picked up Lucky Strikes. An old-timer handed me a pack of Camels while I was in day two of kicking and put me on to general smoking etiquette, like which end to light and how to make an open pack appear closed. It would be a few more months until I hit my stride and found my own brand. I always associated Camels with convicts and Pall Malls with my father. Luckys were still sold at most gas stations and let's face it, they look cool as hell. So, basically, I put down the spike and picked up a cigarette habit, now more of a pain than pleasure. As smoking has really gone out of vogue these days, I feel like the odd man out, though I do enjoy sitting on the porch in the evening and having a smoke with my wife. Without that we would probably have to get cable TV and watch True Detective. Are naps a necessity? I can't speak for the rest of the world, but let's also be clear about what a nap really is. I'm not interested in "power napping" or the light siesta. A proper nap means shoes and pants on the chair, and “so long” for a good hour and a half minimum. Preferably a full two hours. One should not wake up refreshed. Rather, you should feel completely out of it. Hopefully, someone has prepared you a coffee at this point. As a heavy smoker I do little to no exercise, so the midday nap allows my body to sit down and repair itself. So-called "catnaps" don't allow your body to get down to work. I find that I have my best ideas in the morning with a coffee and

a cigarette, and a daily nap doubles my ideas by recreating the same state. Ultimately, it's a bootleg approach to staying healthy. So far, so good. I seldom get sick, and so long as I don't move around, I feel pretty good. Is Los Angeles the only place you’ve ever lived? I was born in Norwalk, Connecticut and was two when we moved to Alhambra where my folks split up. I spent the first grade bouncing around Ohio with my father, a house key around my neck. Second grade, we moved to Canarsie, Brooklyn. Cousins, aunts and uncles all in walking distance of each other, it was great. I've always wondered how life would have turned out if I had stayed, but then it was also the place I was called "nigger lover" for wearing a Dodgers hat. There seems to always be two sides to a coin. In the end, I grew up in California with my mother in a neighborhood called Mar Vista or "Burbank by the Sea.” My local bus was the 33 or 333 when I was lucky. When I was really unlucky, I woke up in Santa Monica at the end of the line. After graduating from Venice High, I spent two years in Brooklyn attending art school, lost interest and came home.

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Except for the occasional lapse in judgment, I have been here ever since. Los Angeles is my favorite city in the entire world. I realize that a lot of folks would argue that, which is fine by me. The more folks who get disenchanted, the better. We desperately need their parking spaces. I was originally exposed to your work on a visit to Coney Island but didn’t realize for years that you were responsible. The painting on the side of Peter’s Clam Shack, a personal favorite amongst the many murals, was for the Dreamland Artist Club project, right? Steve Powers had Finn and me come out that first year to paint with him in Coney, and that's when we painted the Clam Bar. What was commonly mistaken for a cholo was actually a typical Brooklyn guido spinning a clam on one finger, shouting out, "Hey, Joey!" as it was Joey Clams who worked the clam bar there. It would be guys like Joey Clams that made the project worthwhile as he became extremely proud of the sign. It was our typical ploy to give the little guy his proppers while the owner just scratched his head.

above Stoned In Space and Cafe Legs #1 4157 ½ Normal Avenue Los Angeles, California right Concept Sketch for Art In The Streets Pencil and paper 11" x 8.5" 2011

My Coney experience hit full stride the second year when Steve opened the sign shop, and it would be the first time I turned down work to go hide away on Surf Avenue, and the first time I would make homemade tattoos available to the public. In front of the shop, I hung some ballpoint pen flash with a price list that fell out of a time machine: names for five dollars, a full Virgin of Guadalupe for twenty. Most of my day was sitting out front trying to hustle handfuls of body powder. With a bark of, "Powder powder powder… it ain't dope it ain't ‘caine… hooks you up just the same… powder powder powder,” mostly entertaining myself. My favorite Coney story happened when Sean Barton made me a sign that read "Culos Cha-Chas Chi-Chis Gratis" (Spanish slang for asses, pussies, titties, free). Towards sunset, a group of well-lubricated Puerto Ricans called me on the joke, which turned into quite an evening. The forty-year-old mom wanted "Tego" tattooed across one of her rotten watermelons of a breast, while she fought the whole time with her drunken fifteen-year-old daughter and boyfriend. The handsome thug cousin and the lesbian "snake lady" were scheming on the one fine girl of the bunch, while bored nephews ran back and forth to the bodega for coffee and beer. By the time the good-looking girl pulled up her skirt to get "Diabla" tattooed on her ass,

the whole place smelled like beer, boners and vomit. It was one AM when I finally got everyone out and the gate pulled. That's when a real life Chinese Crip rolled up. “Blue rag drippin' and set trippin’.” It was like seeing a unicorn. I left them to their drama and hopped on the F train. How often does your homemade tattoo cart make an appearance? I haven't actually done a homemade tattoo in quite some time. The problem with them is, while I think homemade tattoos look the absolute best, they just take forever. It always sounds like a good idea at first, but then you get down to all of that shading with a single guitar string and you’re like, "Fuck, no wonder this is such a penitentiary past time!" I will, however, still pack up a little kit if I am traveling overseas. Seems that the opportunities to waste away my evening come more readily away from the responsibilities of home. I would like to find some time to get the cart up and running or do something like we did in Coney. Perhaps that will be what comes with retirement. What was your involvement with the Installation of Street Market at Art In The Streets? I will give you the long version, for your own clarification. I have never been much of a fan of this so-called "street

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art," for the record. When Aaron Rose told me that he was to work on a show at MOCA titled Art In The Streets, I had a good laugh and felt bad for my friend. A month later I got an email from Steve, Barry McGee, and Todd asking if I would participate in this next incarnation. Now these are three gentlemen that I know from three different areas of life. Todd I knew from when we were both still teenagers writing graffiti. Steve, as a member of Gents of Desire and the Coney Island project. Barry, much later in life from mutual friends. I think that ultimately they wanted an LA head to better fit the locale. So I took a look at the previous versions they had done of Street Market and came to a quick conclusion, that the last thing they needed was another artist. Rather, I would offer up what I had going for me from my day job, production design. I treated that project much like any other job without a budget. Long hours and pulling a whole lot of favors, happy to fade back into obscurity when that was all done. What characteristics describe members of the Gents of Desire? Would I be correct in calling it a social club?

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Yes it is, or better was, a social club. The members themselves are a diverse crowd while, certainly, there are a handful of older writers. The club includes one skateboarder, one South Sider, one counselor, one director, two production designers, two wardrobe stylists, one book collector, one ex-artist, one curator, one jeweler and a fly homosexual. I suppose that what they all have in common would be completely solid pedigrees, each putting in a good amount of work to be who they are, having real life reputations that exist with or without social media.

Tell me something noteworthy about your crew Majestic Persuasions. We have t-shirts that even grips like. Our prop master has three balls due to a BMX accident. Our teamster can signpaint better than your sign painter. Our leadman can beat up your leadman. Our current office assistant is the lead singer of Holy Grail. We have a real Chinaman. We have two bathrooms and two napping areas. We are personal friends

above Trying to Commit Suicide at Two Stories. Strictly Smoking Sherm Pen and paper 2009 right Sherm Stick’n Acrylic on canvas 72" x 60" 2012

and colleagues with Keith Wager (aka From Folsom to Fashion). We somehow manage to make the money work. How did you get into production design? A fellow named Floyd Albee turned me on. I was lured into the art department with free cigarette cartons and lunches at Roscoe's. That was enough incentive to show up early and leave late. Worked on music videos where we had to do everything ourselves. Slept on stage, said “yes” when I'd rather say “no.” Generally kept doing the next thing that came in front of me without complaining. Was taught early on to be nice to the guy below you as he would someday be your boss. Can't tell you how many times that came true. Would eventually work under a designer named Robbie Freed, who taught me how to show up in a foreign country

and make fast friends with the local crew. This would be invaluable down the road. He was also the person who finally said "enough" and made me start my own crew. You appear to find comic relief in cholos? Like most white kids of my generation, I grew up somewhat enamored by the old Chicano styles, more specifically a time I like to call "when cholos still had hair." I still have a ballerina's turnout that I developed in the third grade that attests to this fascination. Unfortunately, these styles disappeared with the growing popularity of Hip hop. Shaved heads and shirts the size of house dresses hold no interest for me. So far as the humor of it all, this came much later in life. Getting clean, I was surrounded by a group of older convicts who had an incredible sense of humor. Half seemed

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Fruit Loop and Fancy Free Acrylic on canvas 72" x 48" 2012

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to be older black bank robbers from the fed system, and the other half were Chicanos trying to avoid another statesponsored holiday. It was the latter of the group that really got me laughing again. You see, we were all engaged in the grim prospect of putting down the needle once and for all. So everybody is going through a bag of mixed emotions, from what feels like the worst broken heart to "fuck it" and walking out the gate. Without many real life tools to cope, humor became a useful outlet, much of it around the idea of not taking oneself too seriously. This, mixed with a healthy dose of KRLA, would become the foundation of a new life for me. How that affected what I draw is hard to say. One can sit down with a ballpoint pen and knock out a decent handkerchief with all the usual bells and whistles (tough dudes, fine chicks, wicked skulls, song title, etc.) with the end result of "Damn, that shit is tight!" Now if I was to

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draw the same images, but hanging from the barrel of the gun is a blown out pair of crime fighters and the song title is something from Spandau Ballet, half the viewers are laughing. The other half is like "Damn, that's fucked up, eh?" At the end, I have to thank guys like Casper ESC (RIP) for reminding me to laugh when I felt like dying. So, no. I don't find comic relief in cholos, no need now when there are so many white kids to make fun of. What’s the idea behind Cafe Legs and how many have there been now? What kind of coffee do you serve? Aaron Rose mentioned a new place in the neighborhood where they repaired old scooters and made an incredible espresso, to which I replied, "That sounds horrible." The place was called Choke and it was run by a young dude named Jeff Johnsen. Turns out that Jeff was pretty unique. He was making espresso with a machine cobbled together from various parts, all while tinkering away on old scooters

above Ronaldo The Great Ink and zipatone on illustration board 11" x 9.5" 2010 right Shop Window #2 Acrylic on canvas 72" x 60" 2012

and mopeds. This was also right before the craze of fancy espresso. Problem was that his spot became very popular, to the point where Silverlake moms were complaining about exhaust, and actor losers were going over scripts on the couch. I spent a summer warning folks that espresso was dead and it was all about Boba Tea. That never took off, but Jeff got rid of the espresso and the place became strictly a moped repair shop, a problem, as there was nothing left for me to do. I never agreed with the trend of souped-up mopeds. Those things were lame and still are.

couldn't buy anywhere else. We would open to the public one day per month to sell that one thing and offer espresso. The rub was we never advertised; it all happened through word of mouth. So, ultimately, either you were there and copped the one time deal, or you weren't. The other twentynine days of the month, I would sit there and hide away from life if I wasn't working, cooking up the next idea for a sale. It was a time before the economy dipped and people were obsessed with the idea of "limited.” So the concept was really "beyond limited" coupled with a great price.

I had already painted all the signs I could to point out this fact, so I no longer fit into a place where I liked to hide. Around this time, a customer had traded a small single group espresso machine for some repair work. Jeff and I built a small shack in the repair yard where we could still have a coffee and listen to tunes. This was to be Cafe Legs #1. The name comes from an idea I copped in Santiago, Chile which has storefronts called café con piernas where you would have a cigarette and coffee while hugging a woman dressed in her underwear. It was one of those things that made perfect sense down there, but would never translate up here. So instead, we would sell limited items that you

Around this time, we met Pat Tenore from RVCA, who really twisted our arms until we agreed to build out Cafe Legs #2 behind his retail space on Fairfax. He had, and still has, such an infectious enthusiasm and is a genuine good human being. Once he agreed to the Legs terms of seldom open and loss of profit, we got going. In many ways #2 was the biggest success. It was there for about two years with the espresso machine on and Goran Bregovic coming out of an old Sansui receiver. Indoor smoking and a Japanese toilet that washed your ass. A few times I dozed off there on the weekend while my wife played her accordion. But most of the time it just sat there untouched.

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Around this time I tried an experiment to see what it would be like if I were an artist, a week off of work to draw each day and a twelve-hour day including my nap. At the end of that week I had twenty finished pieces and an urge to go back to my day job. Aaron Rose got on my ass about having a show with the work, so I finally agreed to do it if the venue was Cafe Legs #2. I always hate going to art shows as there is nowhere to sit down, and smoking indoors is long gone. So #2 was just the type of place to endure such an evening. A year later, I worked with some friends on building out a miniature city for Art in the Streets, and it only seemed appropriate to add in a Cafe Legs. This was #5 (yeah, we skipped ahead). Rather than the typical old espresso machine, we had a broken percolator as the idea of a Cafe Legs in a museum. We wheeled out the homemade tattoo cart and filled the display with "cool guy treasures.” Inside there was the customary napping cot that came in handy during what turned out to be a long installation.

In November 2012 I had a proper art show with my friend Todd James called Beyond Elegance, the first time I sat down to make paintings for public consumption. Looking like it was going to be quite the spectacle, we figured the space could use a spot to sit, smoke and drink coffee, so we wouldn’t have to stand around talking about art. Cafe Legs #4 came with all of the usual trappings, an old La San Marco espresso machine, napping cot, MLK portrait, Sansui reverb unit married to a Marantz and a bootleg Corinthians jersey, as well as folders of every dirty doodle I had made for that show. It's certainly up there with one of my favorite items of all time. Now it sits in a storage unit back east. Hard to tell if there will ever be a #6. Now Jeff’s a big time prop master and part-time dune buggy racer. I'm sitting here shitting myself at the cost of Catholic school and writing budgets for other people's big ideas.

Much of the Cafe Legs story is one of having a laugh that someone else is paying for, and that hit its peak with #3. Our friend Kun convinced some folks in Tokyo that this would be just what the new Ron Herman store needed, so we shipped every nut and bolt to Japan where we spent the next three weeks assembling it. We are still waiting to be invited back, or at least get a free shirt.

For more information about Alexis Ross, maybe try a Google search. If you don’t know, now you know.

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JUXTAPOZ.COM / ALEXIS - ROSS

above Interior of Cafe Legs right Rodger's Rules Ink and zipatone on paper 18" x 24" 2010

RYAN DE LA HOZ INTERVIEW BY HANNAH STOUFFER PORTRAIT BY AMY HARRITY

THE CONTEMPORARY GENRE KNOWN AS THE MAKER CULTURE IS A RELATIVELY NEW pursuit, representing and emphasizing explorations in the intersections of both traditional and technology-based mediums. As a subculture, the approach is that if it can be imagined, it can be made. Ryan De La Hoz is a maker. With an innovative style, collaging white noise, tie-dye and faux marble in the form of sculptural installations, xeroxed remixes and graphic puzzles, De La Hoz is essentially creating a maker class of his own. Heavily influenced by the contrast of past and present, as well as modern culture versus antiquity, his work examines society at large, dipping into nostalgic romance, floral patterns and heavy gradients. Hannah Stouffer: Hey Ryan, what are you wearing? Ryan De La Hoz: I am wearing brown moccasins, black jeans, and a plaid shirt. Basically the exact same look my father had going when he was my age. What was your dad into? Tell me about your childhood and the point when you realized your attraction to the creative field. My dad was into The Twilight Zone, musicals, and camping. He died when he was 45 in 2005, so my memory of him is sporadic. His death affected me deeply and I have no doubt that it is the reason why death and fragility are huge themes in my work. I appreciate my dad for introducing me to stories like those in The Twilight Zone, in which reality gets ripped out from underneath a protagonist suddenly at the end. I use this idea in my work and I try to show glimpses of something just before or after a monumental shift. It's like Michelangelo's The Creation of Adam. The power of that painting is in the anticipation of the coming moment, the touch of life. I grew up in the suburbs across the street from a creek so I was big on climbing trees, building bike jumps, tree houses, skateboarding, and video games. I’ve been constantly drawing ever since I can remember, but really started to make bodies of work when I was in high school. I was super into Spider Man and I started painting him over and over. The big thing for me is that I finally had an art teacher that let me make whatever I wanted. Before this, it was always like "Okay, kids, it's October so let's make orange pumpkins.” From there I never stopped making things. I am now an art teacher and never limit my students because creation is freedom. That’s right! I knew you recently started teaching art to kids, so how is it going? It's the best! If you truly love your day job, it changes

everything. I teach painting, drawing, screen printing and clay wheel. My students are in the 6 to 12 year-old range so it is challenging and ultimately very rewarding. I want an "all art all the time" life and teaching certainly fits the bill. Nothing compares to the joy of creation and wide-eyed wonder on my students’ faces.

BEYOND THE STORY

Do you agree, as I find, that there is this nostalgia in your work? Are you pulling things from your early years, or tapping into elements from your past? There are many subtle nods to my childhood within my work. The '80s and '90s were a time of Silly Putty, Gak, ooze, ectoplasm, and slime. Some of my work drips and warps because of these influences. I made a ‘zine in 2010 which became a t-shirt that says, "Welcome To Your Doom," which is a direct reference to a video game from 1988, Altered Beast, in which Zeus calls you from the grave to rescue his daughter, and you immediately start fighting ghouls that explode from their tombstones. Tim Burton's Batman and Beetlejuice made an indelible impression on me as well. They got me thinking about how patterns can create mood and environment. It was a weird and wacky time if you think about things like Ninja Turtles, Garbage Pail Kids, and Ghostbusters. For me, it is impossible to deny things from my childhood that make their way into my work because they are a part of me, and I embrace that.

In 2010 he was awarded the Canson Wet Paint Grant.

His last name means "of the Sickle" and I am obsessed with Grim Reapers. He has a large collection of E.T. memorabilia.

If you had to define your work in a specific time, what would it be? I try to examine the past and present at the same time. This clash of cultures makes it difficult for me to pinpoint any era. These days, I have been focusing heavily on periods such as Late Antiquity through the Middle Ages and the counterculture Hippie movement of the 1960s. I use periods in history to excavate emotions because I think one thing that ties all of

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history together is the feelings of a society at any given time— apathy, fear, hope, joy, misery, etc. Do you feel like you are heavily connected or drawn to contemporary culture more than other eras? I am definitely drawn to contemporary culture. Both the good and bad fascinate me. I get into habits of researching counter-cultural movements in order to understand that which prompted radical change within society at any given time. Contemporary culture is my culture, and therefore, makes its way into my work, no matter what. Even though I've known you for awhile, let’s pretend that I haven't. Tell me about yourself and your studio setup. I am in my studio which is in my apartment. I live in the Mission District of San Francisco. I am 28 years old. My studio is a relatively small room with a desk and things all over the walls. When I have a show coming up, I barricade myself into a corner, ship it all out, and then repeat the process. Living where your studio is has its pros and cons but I find I can make art anywhere. I was once living in essentially a closet for about six months and I managed.

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Your work graces the surfaces and mediums of a wide variety including sculpture, weavings, collage and apparel. Is there one particular medium that you favor or that you feel holds your work the best? / I worked with cut paper and ink exclusively for about five years, but these days I work within whatever medium I feel best suits the project. This was a scary thing at first. I found myself bored and wanted to expand my materials but was hesitant. Once I got over what now seems like an irrational fear, I opened up a lot of doors in my creative mind state and now utilize many mediums. I finally realized that there was no point in doing this if I didn't make whatever I want, however I want, without worrying about what others think about me, and just switch things up. With that said, I favor any form of art making that is hands on. A lot of my work may look entirely digital but I have a hands-on approach to everything I do.

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Where do you feel like it’s headed? Onto what surface? The sky is the limit! I will continue to welcome transitions within my work as long they happen naturally. Sometimes I buy junky art kits for kids and try to make fine art with them. I recently bought what is essentially a poor man's airbrush kit. It pressurizes marker tips and sprays that instead of

above ESP Cotton 48" x 48" 2013 right Welcome To Your Doom Puzzle 10" x 14" 2012 following spread left What Burns Never Returns Collage 8" x 10" 2013 following spread right Brain Fold Ink and cut paper on paper 11" x 14" 2012

actual aerosol. I am also addicted to scratchboard kits as I find it really loosens me up if I feel like I am getting too rigid and controlling in my practice. It's just fun to make art with everything you can get your hands on. At the same time, I enjoy the idea of setting limitations for myself both conceptually and with materials used. This comes into play when I make pieces with nothing but paper and an X-Acto knife. So, would you consider yourself a designer, an art maker, a wizard? I would consider myself a maker. It's just something that I need to do. I know you're heavily drawn to crafted, produced goods, like apparel. Do you think your line Cool Try is directly linked to your gallery work at all? I feel like there are some crossovers. In my mind, the things I make for Cool Try are in a separate realm than my fine art, although some would disagree. If any themes or motifs inhabit Cool Try as well as my gallery work, it is either a subconscious thing or I was just feeling compelled at the moment. I can be my own worst enemy when it comes to what I am making, and these days I try harder and harder all the time to simply loosen up and do what I feel.

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What would you say the majority of your energy is focused on? Gallery shows, products, jokes? I put the most focus on my personal work for gallery shows. I try to keep my products such as Cool Try fun and free. For example, I don't adhere to producing seasonal graphics for my shirts and products. I just make them when I get the idea and have the chance. Fun and free. When I am working on a body of work for an exhibition, it becomes an all-consuming endeavor that I constantly think about from the thumbnail stage to the final installation. I wouldn't have it any other way. Let’s talk about patterns in print, textile or other mediums. What are your top favorites? Who doesn't love a good checker board pattern? I suppose my favorites will always be the classics such as polka dots. Simple and timeless. What about all the tie-dye, marble, floral patterns and brick that you use? Do those take second place? I suppose they do take second place to the masters that have come before me and conceived the classics. I use tiedye, brick, marble, floral, maze, and static patterns often. I let them recur in various bodies of work. Besides aesthetically, I use different patterns to implement a time period. I am constantly referencing figures and surfaces from antiquity. Lately I have been combining these elements

above left Wall No. 1 Collage 8.5" x 11" 2014 above right Fallen Vessel Hand-cut paper and ink 11" x 14" 2013

CONTEMPORARY CULTURE IS MY CULTURE, AND THEREFORE, MAKES ITS WAY INTO MY WORK, NO MATTER WHAT with articles and motifs of modern Americana. I started using tie-dye to comment on the fact that while it is now considered kitschy by some, it was once emblematic of a movement that defied corporate culture among many other things. It is interesting the way motifs change meaning over time as they are reappropriated. I understand that I too am reappropriating many things in my attempt to examine them.

You seem to have gotten off to a busy start this year. What’s been going on? How has 2014 been the best ever? I kicked off the year with a solo show at Slow Culture Gallery in Los Angeles entitled Rise From Your Grave. It was work that dealt with death, resurrection, and the collision of modern and antiquated cultures. I am especially jazzed about 2014.

It seems like this would put you all over the place, but what color palette do you find yourself most attracted to? Probably cool/muted. I like to use a lot of black and white so that any color really pops.

How did it go? You recently showed at Breeze Block in Portland, as well, right? My LA show was a blast and I felt like I really let loose and had fun making the work. I have been slowly introducing textiles and plastic sculptural elements into my installations, and for this show, it all came together really well. Only recently have I been entirely confident to make art with whatever substance I feel like and trust that it is all going to come together as a cohesive whole. I ended 2013 with the Portland show. I had the honor of showing with Russell Leng, and the most exciting thing was finding similarities in our respective bodies of work that we hadn't yet seen. It was also a rewarding challenge to integrate our work rather than occupy each side of the gallery individually.

Has this remained pretty consistent, or do you go through phases? If I stick with cool/muted colors for a long enough time, I will go through phases of brightening things up a bit. It all depends on my mood, the intent of the work, the music I am listening to; even the time of year comes into play. Where would you say you acquire the main sources of inspiration for your pieces? Everything is inspiration. I am inspired by timelines in history, discovering new things to make art with and on, people, and music. I like that essentially art history is a series of rules that get broken by rule breakers, and boom, out comes a new art movement! This goes beyond art. You need to break the rules to change the world. I am drawn to this slight chaos. Where would we be without dissent? In the context of history I am fascinated by the general cycle that is greed-powerenslavement-despair-corruption-revolution-destruction and so on. Everything goes in circles, and humans can't seem to stop making the same mistakes twice. When I first saw your work, it was pretty illustrative with bits of collage. It seems like you've stepped away from that and gone more towards graphic mediums and produced materials. Do you still use illustration? My work has definitely become more graphic and less figurative over the years. I like the idea of making a piece that is entirely hand-cut paper, and then moving on to a piece that is full collage and/or manipulated, ready-made materials. I try to blur the line between digital and analog. Many things that appear to be digital in my work are made by hand or are handmanipulated. For example, if I ever warp or stretch existing imagery, I do it by hand as it is being scanned. I also like the idea of a quickly executed portion of a piece juxtaposed with a section that I spent hours on with a ruler and ink.

What do you have coming up next? I have a few product collaborations in the works, home goods and cut-and-sew clothing. Things that I simply cannot produce on my own, so that is exciting. My next solo show opens at Flatcolor Gallery in Seattle on May 1st and is entitled Form and Void. I took this concept from the Bible. It is taken from Genesis verse 1:2 "And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep.” I am taking religious/creationist connotations out of it and focusing on the words "Form" and "Void.” What are you truly scared of? Henry David Thoreau said, "Most men lead lives of quiet desperation and go to the grave with the song still in them." I want to make sure I "sing" as loud as I can while I am alive because to die with a desperate soul is a sad and scary thing.

For more information about Ryan De La Hoz visit, ryandelahoz.com JUXTAPOZ.COM / RYAN - DE - LA - HOZ

I've always considered your work to be intelligent (genius), conceptual, and witty. What are the three words you'd hope to convey? If we are talking about feelings, I would say isolation, loss, and some hope thrown in for good measure.

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WINSTON SMITH INTERVIEW BY PATRICK O’NEIL PORTRAIT BY JOE BROOK

I DASH DOWN THE STAIRS LEADING INTO THE LOS ANGELES Museum of Contemporary Art, only to be stopped short by a large, boisterous crowd. Another art opening. There's a DJ spinning vinyl. He's playing the Sex Pistols, Siouxsie and the Banshees, Black Flag, The Clash, even The Ramones. I push my way through a gaggle of hipsters dressed down in leather and torn punk band t-shirts, only to step into another group decked out in Dolce & Gabbana and Alexander McQueen. The museum's brick courtyard is packed. Everyone is milling around, drinking beer and wine, hyped-up on music made before most of them were born. But that doesn't seem to matter. They're all here to see MOCAtv's The Art Of Punk, a series described on their YouTube channel as "tracing the roots of the punk movement and the artists behind the iconic logos of punk bands." As I look around, I'm left wondering, just when did punk become so nostalgic that it would bring out all of LA's cool kids? But then, of course, that's why I'm here, to see the films and talk with Winston Smith, the artist featured in part three of the fledgling series. For the last 30-plus years, Smith has been a mainstay of the punk art world. He designed the logo for the influential punk band Dead Kennedys, as well as the majority of their album covers, and other bands’ artwork and poster art. Three books published by the underground press Last Gasp—Act Like Nothing's Wrong, Artcrime, and All Riot On The Western Front: The Montage Art Of Winston Smith, Vol. 3—chronicle Smith's prolific career. Having been a part of the punk movement during the late '70s and early '80s, I remember all too well the origins of punk rock. Back then, when I was the entire art department for Alternative Tentacles, the record label of Dead Kennedys' lead singer Jello Biafra, I worked closely with Smith. But that was a long time ago and it's heartening to see this much of a renewed interest. There's a smattering of gray haired punks from back in the day, and it's good to see a majority of them recognize Smith. He's an artist I always felt was never given proper recognition—but then, when do alternative artists ever get their due, at least while they're still alive? However, with the gallery way too crowded, and the music too loud for conversation, Smith and I agree to meet up later in San Francisco at the North Beach studio he's dubbed Grant's Tomb. Patrick O’Neil: What's with the name Grant's Tomb? Winston Smith: I call it that since it's an old 19th century crypt under Grant Avenue. Although, now at last I know who really is buried in Grant's Tomb… it's me. There seems to be a renewed interest in, for a lack of a better title, punk art, or maybe the entire movement. How does it feel to be part of this nostalgia?

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Nostalgia? I never imagined the punk scene would last this long. I always felt confident that the punk underground was so nasty, gnarly and disgusting that it would never be in danger of being commercially co-opted by the mainstream. Makes me wish I'd bought stock in it. Do you think this interest in punk art is simply nostalgia? Or is it still a major influence, as it has been in the fashion industry? It’s way more than fashion. People who are sincerely interested in punk art, or punk-inspired art, are intrigued because the message and relevance are still socially and politically important. I hope so anyway. That said, what do you think is the present state of the art world? I'm mostly ignorant of the current art world. If it happened after 1598, I'm clueless about it. I wish I knew more of who's who in the art world, and my lack of proper education probably accounts for that. 1598? We're talking Italian Renaissance, oil paintings, and fine art. But it's 2013, isn't fine art dead? Not at all! I'm constantly amazed at the incredible work published in magazines such as Juxtapoz, which display the phenomenal range of imagination and inconceivably bizarre fantasy that couldn't be dreamt by any of the great masters. The new painters working today have the skills of Raphael combined with the imagination of Kafka. I wish I could put into words my admiration for their talents. Isabel Samaras is an example of a contemporary painter who is classically trained and can execute the most bizarre compositions in a skillful and traditional format. Dennis Larkins is another good example. In defining skill, imagination, and classical training as attributes to fine art, do you hold any specific beliefs about what might be called art? Art is in our DNA. Art is in our bones. If you lost your bones, it's still in your mind. And if you lost your mind then it's still in your heart. If all the planets lined up and the magnetic poles reversed, and if all human life came to a sudden stop… Art would still exist.

God Told Me to Skin You Alive Album art for Green Day’s Insomniac 1995

Which artists have influenced your work? Naturally, my first influences were those of my folks, who were both artists. Then I'd have to say the classical masters such as Leonardo, Giotto, and Botticelli. Also, a lot of the art on album covers such as Peter Blake's incredible Sgt. Pepper's for The Beatles, or Roger Dean who designed covers for the band YES. The illustrator Ralph Steadman is another. There are many contemporary artists among my circle of friends who inspire me, even if I can't say they directly influence my work, like stencil artists Sam Miller and Scott Williams. And Mark Wagner for his intricately handcarved creations made exclusively from U.S. currency. But inspiration is a mode of influence, even if it comes through our work subconsciously. We're all the sum total of countless influences, and even those who have that effect on us are products of the influence of countless others. Taking into account the pervasive humor in your art, does that imply that you don’t take things seriously? I do, indeed, take things seriously and perhaps too much so. But my manner of self-expression probably does come off as flippant or tactless in the face of serious issues. There's so much suffering in the world: personal angst trips each of us go through at different stages of our lives, horrific life-shattering tragedies that befall entire nations, and the ongoing degradation and abuse endured by generations around the world due to their race or religions, or the misfortunes of climate or economies. Add to that

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the deliberate strangulation of the natural world by the forces of unbridled greed and arrogance, and the countless environmental insults that are turning back on us and causing the greatest suffering for those who didn't set out to gain from it. The kings of the earth, the huge corporations and their "termite mentality" and lust for destruction are happy to "socialize" the suffering and the costs, but they only want to "privatize" the profits. Winner-take-all capitalism. Rapacious greed justified by a twisted ideology. It's what's killing the planet and everyone on her, and I don't think we should go down without a fight. So, there's rebellion in this humor? It's rebellion against the status quo, and the job of the artist is to overturn the status quo. I think it was the great surrealist André Breton who said, “We surrealists are allergic to things as they are.” That's how I've felt all my life. What can I say? I hold all authority in suspicion. The use of cutout images from other sources, repositioned to serve your purpose, is reminiscent of Marcel Duchamp's ready-made art, and he too used humor. Any parallels? I certainly couldn't compare myself to Duchamp but there is an essence of ready-made art that is fundamental in the medium of collage. The very medium depends on the availability of pre-printed imagery, usually from mass media publications such as books, magazines, newspapers—all the things that are quickly disappearing in the age of the Internet. I've always

Ashes to Ashes 2004 following spread left Out of the Frying Pan and into the Fire 2006 following spread right Addicted to War 2000

WINNER-TAKE-ALL CAPITALISM. RAPACIOUS GREED JUSTIFIED BY A TWISTED IDEOLOGY. IT'S WHAT'S KILLING THE PLANET AND EVERYONE ON HER, AND I DON'T THINK WE SHOULD GO DOWN WITHOUT A FIGHT considered collage as Instant Surrealism. Its ready-made feature is that, given the exact same material from which to work, each artist will render a different interpretation depending on point of view. Some of my compositions are cluttered and complex, and some are created from just two or three elements juxtaposed in a posture just off enough to create an entirely different composition from the one intended by the original plan of design. I notice in your last book, the work was titled Montage. If you were to give your medium a title, is that what would it be? Yes, I usually refer to my work as montage. My first impression of collage was of the traditional sense, strips of ripped-up paper, shards of glass or pieces of broken wood and string, etc. Only by interweaving the various elements together, I try to achieve a figurative composition that offers a window into a different world.

Speaking of a different world, what were you doing artwise when punk first started, before Dead Kennedys? I was a roadie for Santana, Crosby, Stills & Nash, Neil Young, The Tubes, Journey, Sly Stone, and Quicksilver Messenger Service. At $2.20 an hour minimum wage, it was the only gig someone like me could deal with, especially since I'm a lifelong chronic insomniac and hopeless at any straight job where I'd have to show up at 9 a.m. I did that until late in 1977 when I began seeing posters and flyers for punk shows, which were emerging at the time. All I could think was, finally! I'd been waiting for this all my life. Punk was something I could really sink my teeth into. I volunteered to do art and layout for an outfit called Rock Against Racism, originally formed in the UK as a response to the ultra conservative wing of the British government of Prime Minister Thatcher. The object of RAR was to organize concerts and events, encouraging young people to repudiate racism and encourage diversity and tolerance. MAY 2014

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I made flyers, mostly for unknown bands, one which happened to be Dead Kennedys. As fate would have it, one of my colleagues suggested I listen to a 45 given to her by Jello Biafra. It was California Uber Ales. I sent Biafra a postcard I'd made from stills of the Zapruder film of John F. Kennedy's assassination, and he wrote back asking for more. We've been partners In crime ever since. What do you think of artists who emulate your work? I believe it's all perfectly valid. After all, I wasn't the first person to stick pieces of paper together to make a new composition, and I hope I shan't be the last. How about new graffiti artists, the creators of the stencil art? There are some maestros out there who are incredible. Of course, Shepard Fairey comes to mind as having created some spectacular work over the years. There are not enough superlatives to describe him. The funny thing with Shepard's work is that I had never heard of him, but several years ago while driving under the freeway in an abandoned area of the City, I saw this weird black and white poster pasted way

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up on a freeway pillar. I pulled over and snapped a picture using a disposable camera I had in the car. Later, I got the photo back from the Rexall drugstore and enlarged it on a photocopier so I could have a poster, not even as big as the original on the pillar, and I put it on my wall. It was on my wall for at least a year before I saw some of Shepard's work and realized it was his image. Much later, when I found out he was in town for a show, I introduced myself, showed him the photo, and explained how I happened to get it. We've since worked on some shows together and he even featured one of my pieces, Idol, used for the Dead Kennedys' EP In God We Trust, Inc., in one of his books. What an honor. I was also so clueless that I didn't know who Banksy was until my publishers Colin and Ron Turner of Last Gasp gave me a book about him: Wall & Piece. The work seemed so wide-ranging, I thought it was a collective of different artists. Like 12 different guys masquerading under one cover name. Even that would be amazing, but that it's just one cat creating these pieces is mind-blowing.

above Dollars to Donuts 2002 right Carnage 2008

Could you talk a little bit about the documentary for MOCAtv The Art of Punk? Bryan Ray Turcotte and Bo Bushnell made a series of three films for the Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art, and the first one was all about the Black Flag logo by Raymond Pettibone. Another was about the Crass logo designed by Dave King. Mine was the third, and they were released together at a giant premier in L.A. Bryan Ray and his crew came to my studio and shot for several hours. They did a great job on the editing and production. You can see the results for yourself on my website winstonsmith.com where we have the Art of Punk series posted.

And besides producing new work, my new endeavor is to establish The Collage Museum of San Francisco. We're planning to hold short exhibitions about two or three times annually with guest artists and notable practitioners of the art of collage, montage and assemblage. We want to have the space become a museum in which to showcase these artists' work, conduct educational exchanges, mount historical exhibits, offer prints and original art, and to encourage new artists to explore this medium. It's an idea whose time has come.

Other than appearing in cool mini documentaries, what's the future for Winston Smith? I've been living in San Francisco's North Beach district for nearly 20 years now. My studio is only a four or five minute walk away and I've been running it for over four years. It's always a struggle to keep the balls in the air, but it is the only thing that stands between me and oblivion. At Grant's Tomb, I have the workspace to deal with the storing and researching of my resource material and supplies.

For more information about Winston Smith, visit winstonsmith.com JUXTAPOZ.COM / WINSTON - SMITH

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JUXTAPOZ PROJECTS X CONVERSE BRINGING PUBLIC ART TO AUSTIN DURING SXSW

JUXTAPOZ PROJECTS IS OUR NEW INITIATIVE TO bring together all the elements of contemporary art that we champion and love: public art and interaction, community, and investing artists to challenge themselves and make their dream projects come true. As we celebrate our 20th year, Juxtapoz Projects allows us the opportunity to have artists such as Richard Colman, Andrew Schoultz, and Dennis McNett build and create art on location, surrounded by a receptive audience, and have their art exist within an environment or neighborhood that appreciates this creative community. Austin, Texas gave a warm welcome, and is where Juxtapoz Projects began. Going on three years, Juxtapoz and Converse have collaborated on site-specific public art projects around the United States as part of the Converse “Wall to Wall” campaign. From Austin to San Francisco, Brooklyn to Portland, we have introduced the world’s best muralists to neighborhoods to celebrate and promote creativity and the

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arts. During SXSW, Juxtapoz Projects and Converse teamed up, bringing some of our favorite artists to Austin to create installations, performances, and interactive art to accompany the music, tech, and film experiences that happened throughout the early weeks of March 2014. Richard Colman “Orbs” We have always been big fans of Richard Colman’s art, a unique style that blends abstract geometric patterns on both canvases and installations into his now recognizable characters, so we were very excited to collaborate with him on bringing them to a new medium—weather balloons! Unfortunately, in the very early morning hours following their launch, a thief in the night sneaked in and cut the Orbs loose. If you spot them in your backyard, let us know. The search is on.

Photography by Alex Nicholson Schoultz Fabrication Assistant: Howard Hung

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Andrew Schoultz “Melt Down” Andrew brought to Austin a new chapter from a previous show at Project Space Arkitip in Los Angeles where he constructed a 3D military tank as part of the installation. The plan for “Melt Down” was to take that tank, cleave it in half, and mount it to the wall, creating the illusion of a military tank driving through an oil sludge brick wall. This is the first time Andrew has included 3D sculptural elements into a large-scale mural. “The idea was also to do this in a way where the 3D aspect of the piece would read as both flat and 3D at the same time,” Schoultz explained. “The conceptual basis for the piece was to create a dynamic and fun experience for viewers, while, at the same time, capturing the general vibe of chaos, militaristic themes, as well as the depiction of oil explosions on a global scale.” (continued on page 108)

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Dennis McNett “Wolfbat Vital Vessel & The Flames of Surtr” Whether hanging an art show, drawing a skate deck, or conceiving a Viking Ship parade of madness, Dennis McNett is an artist’s artist, creative in any field, constantly exploring the limits of performance and immersive art. McNett and his crew of assistants spent the better part of a week building a giant ship outside the Yellow Jacket Social Club, along with elaborate masks and accessories that uniquely accompany a Wolfbat parade. Unfortunately, due to the senseless tragedy that occurred on the early morning hours of March 13th, we were appropriately discouraged from having the parade. A special thanks to all those who came out and helped to build masks and a ship with Wolfbat! Working with Dennis is its own reward.

JUXTAPOZ.COM / JUXTAPOZ - PROJECTS

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REVIEW

BOOKS

THE TITLES JUXTAPOZ IS CURRENTLY READING TYPORAMA: THE GRAPHIC WORK OF PHILIPPE APELOIG Influential on both sides of the Atlantic, Philippe Apeloig is considered one of the most fascinating and distinguished graphic designers working right now. Beginning his formidable career in 1985 when he designed the poster for the Musée d’Orsay’s first exhibition, Chicago, Birth of a Metropolis, Apeloig has worked and taught extensively for esteemed museums and cultural institutions in France and across the globe. He challenges, “My job is to perturb.” And indeed, Apeloig does just that with the visual language he creates in brochures, posters, exhibition catalogs, logos, and typefaces, consistently fashioning a mystical sense of movement and rhythm while inviting his audience to dance through the letters and lines. We have a feeling that Typorama: The Graphic Work of Philippe Apeloig, the gorgeous retrospective of a highly original graphic designer, will become essential reading for anyone with an interest in the recent history of graphic design. —Lalé Shafaghi Thames and Hudson Books, thamesandhudson.com

GUSMANO CESARETTI: FRAGMENTS OF LOS ANGELES, 1969-1989 Gusmano Cesaretti, a Juxtapoz favorite, has come out with another astonishing monograph, Fragments Of Los Angeles, 1969-1989. One of the first to photograph the vibrant East LA of the early '70s, Cesaretti captured not only the roughness of the neighborhood, but also the unique tenderness of its residents. This self-taught photographer credits his poor English with being granted close access to his photo subjects. "I was trying to read the graffiti, but it was difficult to interpret, so I found this guy, and he introduced me to this subculture of low riders," said Cesaretti. It’s exactly that charming enthusiasm that adds to the layers of his distinctly developed black-and-white images. Fragments Of Los Angeles opens with a textured interview by Aaron Rose of Beautiful Losers, which first appeared in our April 2011 issue. And as the director Michael Mann plainly states in the introduction, “The images in this book could not be photographed by anybody else.” —LS Alleged Press, allegedpress.com

MIKE KELLEY Inspired by the genderfluid performances of the Cockettes and films by John Waters, Mike Kelley became one of the most influential artists of our time. Originally wanting to write novels, he quickly found performance and visual arts to be better suited to his particular type of storytelling. This multifaceted artist created a protean body of work commenting on cultural conventions from the mid-1970s until shortly before his untimely and tragic death in 2012. This companion volume to the much-anticipated retrospective exhibition, now at the Museum of Contemporary Art Los Angeles (MOCA), after traveling from The Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam, Centre Pompidou Paris, and MoMA PS1 New York, was conceived in close collaboration with the artist. Mike Kelley, the most comprehensive volume on the radical American artist, features essays, a fully annotated plate section, exhibition chronology, performance history, videography, discography, and a full bibliography of Kelley's work as well as his final and very poignant interview. Mike Kelley is a crucial addition to the library of any art lover. —LS Prestel Publishing, prestel.com

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PROFILE

ANTHONY FRIEDKIN THE GAY ESSAY REVISITS SAN FRANCISCO

IN 1969, RICHIE HAVENS SANG Freedom (Motherless Child) at Woodstock, delivering what many would call the most impassioned performance of the festival, split screens and smashed instruments notwithstanding. One man and a guitar. That same year, nineteen-year-old Tony Friedkin took a camera and started The Gay Essay. Among my favorites is a portrait that portrays the quiet happiness of a couple being together, standing against the simple rough stucco of the Reverend Troy Perry’s Metropolitan Community Church. It shows the artist’s ability to capture dignity while documenting and personalizing the issues of race, sexuality and the marginalized. Julian Cox, founding curator of photography at San Francisco’s Fine Arts museums, gives insight into one man and a camera. Gwynned Vitello: Looking at his subject matter, as well as the empathy of his eye, I feel he must have grown up in a

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supportive, open-minded family. Julian Cox: Friedkin grew up in a very artistic household. His mother, Audrey, was a dancer who performed extensively on Broadway, and his father, David, was a successful screenwriter and director in Hollywood. They had a passion for the visual arts, collecting prints, works on paper and art books. Tony took up photography as a boy of 8, and by the age of 11, was developing his own film in the darkroom. I would think his father’s determination to hire Bill Cosby in I Spy as the first black lead actor of a TV series indicates a home guided by respect for human rights. Yes, exactly. The family was attuned to social issues, with debate encouraged at mealtimes and family gatherings. The Friedkins regularly entertained and counted as close friends a gay male couple, one a dancer at Paramount. Tony remembers them as warm, funny and extremely intelligent.

Couple in front of church Los Angeles 1970 right The Reverend Troy Pelly, Gay Activist, in front of his burnt down church 1973

I imagine him let loose in Southern California, exploring the architecture, watching films, and hanging out at the beach. His surf photos are stunning. Did he surf as well as chronicle the sport? Tony always was, and still is, an avid surfer. Love of the ocean is among the most important things in his life. He has not really documented the “sport” of surfing, more the lifestyle and attitude. His home for the last 40 years is still a rent-controlled place in Santa Monica. Do you think there’s a correlation between the patience one needs in being both a photographer and a surfer? That’s a nice analogy. Surfing requires great anticipation and awareness, characteristics that apply to photography too, and which are especially evident in The Gay Essay. It’s so impressive that he had the confidence and conviction to document the gay community in 1969 when he was only, what, 19 or 20? In his own words, he stated that, “I was a young photographer following my own instincts. I was going through an enormous amount of self discovery about my own sexual feelings when I was making the work… I was concerned with registering an expression.” Very young, but already very driven. I think he sensed from the outset that this was a great growth opportunity, a way to learn about himself as a person and as an artist. Since we publish in San Francisco and the show is exhibiting here, I’m interested in knowing the length of his stay and if he had favorite haunts. Tony’s older brother, Gregory, was an undergraduate at UC Berkeley 1969 through ’72, so he spent time visiting the Bay Area during those years. He made some great photos of the Vietnam protest rallies at UC Berkeley and in Golden Gate Park in 1969. For The Gay Essay, he came to San Francisco in November of 1972, specifically to photograph The Cockettes at the Palace Theater in North Beach for their final performance as a troupe, a midnight show based on Edgar Allan Poe’s “The Masque of the Red Death.” That’s when he met and photographed Divine, whom the Cockettes met through John Waters. The Castro District is literally a tourist destination in San Francisco. Where did the LGBT community gather to feel comfortable in Los Angeles proper? In truth, they were not truly comfortable anywhere in Los Angeles at that time. They congregated in West Hollywood, around Selma and Hollywood Boulevards. A focal point for them was the Gay Community Services Center set up by Morris Kight and Don Kilhefner, who oversaw services such as legal advice, draft counseling, and help with sexually transmitted diseases or drug problems. Both men were very kind to Friedkin, supporting him and his work in photography. They ushered him into the gay world where he could pursue this deep engagement with his subject and his

desire to give a thorough accounting of the gay community and its quest for integration. He evidently prefers black and white. What were his preferences for this project? The Gay Essay is photographed entirely in black and white. He worked almost exclusively with the 35mm Leica M4, introduced in 1967 and a gift from his father. The camera was compact and highly portable, and Friedkin wielded it unobtrusively, imparting to his pictures both intimacy and immediacy. He operated without a flash, so he could shoot at a shutter speed on an eighth or a quarter of a second, fast enough to record action behind the scenes at a club or onstage at a show. It is also the slow, measured MAY 2014

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accumulation of frames that marks out this work. In this way his approach has some affinity with the mechanics of Hollywood movies which were well known to him, even as a young man. His contact sheets show that he was rigorous in his examination of a subject, intently studying the sitter and location to identify the most satisfying composition. Tell me more about Jim Aguilar, who was apparently and understandably, a favorite subject. Those tender portraits are among the strongest in The Gay Essay. Tony was fascinated with his vulnerability, but there is an undercurrent of anguish. Tony wrote, “I first met Jim at Trouper’s Hall. For months we worked together and became close friends. Jim was raised in East Los Angeles, a community dangerously macho. It’s not easy to be gay and live in East LA. Often his mother screamed at him, called him queer. He was afraid to walk the streets alone. Jim could have been an active barrio gang member and carried a knife or gun. But he only carries a brush for his hair.”

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How great that this exhibition culminates in the publication of the book that Friedkin always envisioned for The Gay Essay. Tony wrote to the MoMA in 1973 that, “There are many reasons I chose to do this particular essay, in part because gay people are very misunderstood and mistreated, and I wanted to document their lives. My concern for these photographs is tremendous.”

Anthony Friedkin’s “The Gay Essay” will be on exhibit at the de Young Museum in San Francisco from June 14, 2014 – January 11, 2015. For more information, visit deyoung.famsf.org JUXTAPOZ.COM / PHOTOGRAPHY

left Jim and Valerie Troupers Hall Hollywood 1970 right Couple Los Angeles 1970

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REVIEW

PRODUCTS THINGS JUXTAPOZ IS AFTER

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THE WINTER THAW FINALLY TOOK EFFECT, and we are trying to find the right fits for the next few months of sun and outdoor activities. Juxtapoz has narrowed down a few suggestions for your life this month, including some shades, a new wardrobe, and something to put on your shelves after all that spring cleaning. A few pages ago, you got the background on one of our favorite brands of the moment, (1) ONLY. The NYC-brand has gone back in time to an age when 8-bit graphics were the norm and The Low End Theory was… well, just a theory. Their new Spring/Summer collection has a few gems from the paradise that don’t involve Tommy Bahama. It’s more like paradise inside a Paul Wackers painting, and don’t we just love that. onlynylives.com The Nagasaki prefecture town of Hasami, which has been manufacturing ceramics for over four centuries, and LA based type foundry House Industries teamed with local

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artisans for fantastic and elegant sets of five plate options, six bowl sizes, teacups, teapots, compra bottle, and a tenugui cloth. (2) The Monohara Ceramic Collection not only epitomizes House’s simple design treatments, but have understated and unobtrusive details that allows over 400 years of perfection to shine through. Get the whole collection and position your homewares in a culinary class of their own. houseind.com RAEN has been making great optical wear since 2008, with a timeless mixture of classic and updated styles in a wide range of colors and shapes. Recently, we have been wearing The Archar, a new Spring 2014 frame from (3) RAEN featuring a thicker acetate that makes for a more comfortable balance and wear. The “matte root beer” color is our pick. raenoptics.com

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SIEBEN ON LIFE

TWELVE PACK WITH JAY HOWELL ART FRIENDS AS REAL FRIENDS MY BUDDY JAY HOWELL WAS RECENTLY IN AUSTIN for SXSW. I live in Austin, so it seemed like an excellent idea to meet up with Jay and do a quick Q&A for the magazine you're holding in your hands right now. This isn't meant to be a comprehensive, in-depth interview. It's just twelve quick questions and twelve quicker answers from one of my favorite art friends. Did you attend an art school? For three months—a long time ago. Would you recommend formal art training for younger artists hoping to have a career in the arts? Yeah, sure. It depends what you wanna do, you know? Learning editing/animation programs and stuff is a good skill to have. Who is your favorite contemporary artist? Two: Shel Silverstein and Sergio Aragonés. What's the worst piece of art-related advice you received when you were younger? That you can't do something. Shut up; I'll do whatever I want. In one sentence, give some advice to the aspiring artist reading these words. Listen to and be realistic with yourself. Life is a gift and yours to live. Was skateboarding your introduction to graphic illustration? Totally: Pushead, Pettibon, Jim Phiilips, Ed Templeton, Chris Johanson and Julien Stranger—possibly the best art director of all time besides Peter Seville. So crucial. What's your favorite skateboard graphic of all times? The whole Roskopp series of the hand breaking through, and also every Anti Hero board ever made. Right now I like Bianca Chandon, Polar and Fucking Awesome. The kids are changing things for the better again! How important were zines in terms of your career trajectory? The most! It's how I got every good job I've ever had. What's your dumbest/most-regrettable tattoo? The word "party" tattooed on my finger. Just so dumb.

How did you meet Jim Dirschberger, a frequent collaborator? He emailed me after seeing some zines I did. Then we started going crazy. Is having your own cartoon on Nickelodeon (Sanjay and Craig) everything you dreamed it would be? It's the absolute best! It's a constant dream come true. What's next, dude? Oh, there's some really cool stuff coming up: new shows, music videos—so much thrashing!

For more information about Jay Howell, visit jayhowellart.blogspot.com JUXTAPOZ.COM / JAY - HOWELL

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POP LIFE

LOS ANGELES

SUBLIMINAL PROJECTS, LA LUZ DE JESUS, AND MERRY KARNOWSKY

1 | MEGGS, Liz Levy, Apex, and DJ Neff at Apex’ solo show at Subliminal Projects

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3 | Juxtapoz contributing illustrator Travis Millard and February 2014 cover artist Mel Kadel at Kadel’s solo show opening at Merry Karnowsky Gallery

2 | Dave Dexter, Billy Shire, Matt Kennedy, and Click Mort at La Luz de Jesus’ “Laluzapalooza” group show opening

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4 | Merry Karnowsky and journalist Tommy Tung

Photos by Sam Graham

POP LIFE

AUSTIN, BATON ROUGE, NEW YORK CITY BATON ROUGE GALLERY, YELLOW JACKET SOCIAL CLUB, AND PACE PRINTS

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1 | Greg Escalante and Annie Adjchavanich, dressed up

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3 | Juxtapoz contributing editor, Michael Sieben with Jay

in Mochi the Maltese for the Surreal Salon soiree,

Howell hanging in front of Dennis McNett’s ship at the

Baton Rouge Gallery

Yellow Jacket Social Club, Austin

2 | Hayoto DeSouza, Escalante, and Joe Givens at the Surreal Salon soiree, Baton Rouge Gallery

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4 | How Nosm at their Pace Prints solo exhibition, NYC

Courtesy of Baton Rouge Gallery 1,2 Photo by Brent Gentile 3 Photo by Evan Pricco 4

“NONE” 2014 - Aerosol on wood cradled panel - 20”x20” - Edition (50) www.enjoydenial.com

PERSPECTIVE

WATCHING, WAITING, WISHING THE GLOBE ON YOUR SCREEN

IN EVERY CONVERSATION I HAVE HAD OVER THE PAST two months, there was about a 95% chance that House of Cards and True Detective were going to come up. And if you were lucky, someone was going to slip into a Frank Underwood voice. The amazing thing is that, unlike any time in history, we are sharing our experiences with pop and underground culture simultaneously, simulcasting our reactions via every social media channel in our closest proximity. Walter Benjamin, in his seminal 1936 essay, “The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction,” wrote so obliquely about what was to come, “During long periods of history, the mode of human sense perception changes with humanity’s entire mode of existence. The manner in which human sense perception is organized, the medium in which it is accomplished, is determined not only by nature but by historical circumstances as well.” I couldn’t help but

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think about this point over the course of putting this issue together: I relied so heavily on “new media” to let me know what was going on with all my colleagues: There was SXSW and all the amazing work being done by Richard Colman, Dennis McNett, and Andrew Schoultz, for which I had my little app to illuminate their progress in Austin. I even got envious of people’s experiences at the Armory Show in NYC while I was at the Armory Show. It sort of blows your mind, all this information and access. All this peering in. Looking out. Wanting more. Heads down. I love it, I’m confused by it, and know it’s necessary. But… it’s happening so fast. I wonder what Benjamin would have thought of today? —EP

JUXTAPOZ.COM / PERSPECTIVE

Illustration by Travis Millard

Lifestyle photo by Michael Weintrob, michaelweintrob.com.

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